GSIS relaxes policy on survivorship pension

CEBU, Philippines - Making good its commitment to provide a more responsive service to members and pensioners, the Board of Trustees of the Government Service Insurance System approved Thursday the guidelines to carry out the new policy on the grant of survivorship pension.

Under the guidelines, the maximum amount of basic survivorship pension should not exceed 50 percent of Step 8 of the current salary of an Undersecretary under the Salary Standardization Law, or slightly over P30,000.

Robert G. Vergara, GSIS president and general manager, said the ceiling is based on the rank of an Undersecretary because “this is the highest career position in government.”

He said for those whose pensions were suspended under the old policy, the GSIS will restore the accrued amounts equivalent to the period of suspension.

The GSIS will also request surviving spouses whose applications were previously denied to submit their applications for processing and computation retroactively.

In January, the Board resolved to allow surviving spouses of members and pensioners to receive their monthly pension benefits even if they are gainfully employed and receiving other sources of income.  

Previously, surviving spouses were disqualified from getting the usual half of the GSIS pensioners’ monthly benefit if the spouse earns more than the minimum wage rate of national government employees or is getting pension from other institutions.

More than 300,000 old-age and survivorship pensioners stand to benefit from the new policy.

Vergara assured the GSIS will remain focused in its social mission and will put the highest premium on the needs of its over 1.7 million members and pensioners.

For any question about the new survivorship policy, members may call hotline number 479-3645 or visit the nearest GSIS office. — /WAB (FREEMAN)