GSIS, DepEd vow to update teachers’ records by Feb. 14

Manila public school teachers secured Friday a commitment from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to address persistent problems with their premium contribution deductions and records.

Medardo Mercado, president of the Manila Public School Teachers Association (MPSTA), expressed hope that GSIS president and chief executive officer Winston Garcia and Education Secretary Jesli Lapus will live up to the commitment they made in front of President Arroyo during a dialogue arranged by Malacañang with the teachers’ group and the GSIS and DepEd Friday at the Araullo High School in Manila.

Mercado said the MPSTA, Garcia and Lapus agreed on a date, Feb. 14, by which DepEd and GSIS would have updated all the service records of the more than 450,000 public school teachers and rectified errors in their premium contribution records.

“We’re hoping that DepEd and GSIS fulfill their promises, which they made in front of the President herself,” Mercado told The STAR.

The DepEd’s failure to update teachers’ service records with the GSIS resulted in incorrect GSIS deductions from their salaries.

Teachers said that as a result of the incorrect deductions, they suffer through penalties and reduced benefits, loans and other claims they file with the GSIS. – Rainier Allan Ronda