‘A cover-up?

A very concerned government employee writes to express his grave concern over the present financial health of the GSIS, the Government Service and Insurance System by sharing with us his own sad experience with this government agency that’s mainly mandated to look after their welfare. Here’s his letter.

"Let me congratulate you for the intelligent insights in your newspaper column.

"I am a lowly government employee in one of the Local Government Units in Northern Luzon. I support my family through the meager monthly salary that I receive, which after deduction of my accrued liabilities, can hardly be stretched to cover our daily sustenance much so unforeseen financial obligations like family sickness, accidents and the like. Like most governments employees, I rely on the various lending institutions to cover such "additional" expenses. So when my wife got pregnant a few months back, I restrained myself from accruing more loans and planned on applying for a Salary Loan from the Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS) to cover our financial obligations during her delivery.

"So during my wife’s meeting with stork, it was to my consternation and probably to the millions of other lowly government employees too, that the GSIS announced all loan applications be held pending their "updating" of computer data system during the first week of May. Now there won’t be a problem if the "updating" just took a week or so, but it has already taken the GSIS two months (and counting) to undertake such activity. More so, the "intelligent" managers of the GSIS took pains in considering that the months of May, June and July are "needy" months with school opening and the rains coming.

"I don’t care if the GSIS top echelon purchase "historical" paintings worth millions, or invest in highly questionable investment deals. But they should empathize and consider our plight! Or worse, is the System already bankrupt? With all its assets going down the drain because of shady investment deals and the pockets of managers bloated up with dirty money, and the "updating kuno" just a cover-up. I hope that through your column, they speedy-up their whatever they are doing and that top government officials take the necessary steps to avoid the occurrence of another stupid delay in loans processing. Anyway, it is we government employees, who are the contributors to the GSIS.

"Thank you and more power.

"Please withhold my identity, they might not process my loan."

I got this letter some time in the beginning of July. I just hope that the situation has been remedied since then. I also pray that the administrative excuse (updating of computer data) is really what it is and not what our reader feels as only a cover up for the GSIS’s lack of money to cover the government employees’ financial needs.

I‘ll have to also agree with our reader that the recent purchase of historical paintings worth millions of pesos may not augur well with the present perceived financial "health" of the GSIS.

But in fairness to the present leadership of the GSIS, it has to be made known that whatever situation this government agency may presently be in; "much" of it was only inherited from its past administrators. Although I’ll have to add that it’s also possible that some recent moves of the GSIS may have contributed to its present financial status.

But as it looks the GSIS finds itself presently in a crossroads, a choice between "the devil and the deep blue sea", so to speak. On which is the lesser evil – reduce the benefits or increase the amount of contributions? Sooner or later the government would really have to bite the bullet and be decisive as to which course to take – but a firm course would have to be taken and taken soon.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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