Nonagenarians get cash bonuses from GSIS

MANILA, Philippines - Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) pensioners aged 90 and above will receive one-time benefits from the fund.

“We are introducing the milestone benefits for old-age and disability pensioners who are 90 years old and above because they are the most vulnerable members of GSIS,” GSIS president and general manager Robert G. Vergara said.

The GSIS will release P20,000 to around 6,000 pensioners aged 90 to 94 years old as of Sept. 1, and P50,000 to more than 1,100 pensioners aged 95 to 99 years old.

Pensioners aged 100 and above, meanwhile, will receive a P100,000 one-time benefit from the fund.

Moreover, pensioners who will turn 90, 95, and 100 starting Sept. 2 this year will receive a milestone benefit of P20,000, P30,000, and P50,000, respectively, on their birthdays.

Vergara said the GSIS has already paid at least 272,000 old-age and disability pensioners of a one-time benefit equal to their one-month pension or P10,000 starting Dec. 31.

“GSIS is in a position to grant these benefits due to its record financial performance in 2014. Total assets reached P908 billion, while income spiked to P140 billion and revenues to P231 billion,” the fund stressed.

Vergara said reforms implemented in the last five years have also helped enhance the fund’s services to its 1.9 million stakeholders.

These reforms include the continuation of loan privileges of active members belonging to suspended agencies, the increase in minimum basic pension of P5,000 for old-age and disability pensioners, and the relaxation of requirements for determining the status of local pensioners.