Date Posted: August 14, 2019
State pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) forged a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the local government of General Mariano Alvarez (GMA) in Cavite to implement the GSIS Financial Assistance Loan (GFAL) program for GMA employees.
GMA Mayor Walter Echevarria Jr. and Ms. Lanie Calida, officer in charge of GSIS’s National Capital Region (NCR) Department I, NCR Area 1, signed the GFAL MOA at the GMA Municipal Hall.
GFAL is the balance-transfer and debt-consolidation facility of GSIS that aims to help active GSIS members settle their outstanding loan balances with private lenders.
Initially offered to teaching and nonteaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd), the program has been extended to the rest of GSIS members starting 29 July 2019.
“As of July 30, GSIS has disbursed over Php24 billion to private lenders, benefitting 68,731 DepEd personnel. The expanded program, dubbed GFAL II, seeks to ease the burden of other GSIS members and help improve the pension fund’s collection efficiency,” GSIS Chairman and concurrent Officer in Charge Rolando Ledesma Macasaet said.
Under GFAL, borrowers may apply for up to a maximum loan amount of Php500,000.00 payable in equal monthly instalments up to six years at an interest rate of six percent per annum.
GFAL borrowers whose outstanding loans with private lenders do not exceed Php500,000.00 may opt to borrow the remaining amount through the Top-Up Loan. Unlike the proceeds of GFAL, which is paid directly to private lenders, the Top-Up Loan proceeds will be released to the member.
“Because our employees will pay only one creditor, the reduced interest rates on the loans deducted from their monthly salary and the longer repayment term would yield a higher net take-home pay. Ultimately, their retirement benefits would be free from burdensome loan deductions,” Echevarria said during the MOA signing.
To qualify for GFAL, applicants must be permanent government employees with outstanding loan from private lending institutions, government banks, or cooperatives accredited or recognized by their agency; have paid premiums with the GSIS for at least three years; have no due and demandable loan account with the GSIS; not be on leave without pay; have a net take-home pay of not lower than Php5,000 after deduction of monthly obligations; and have no pending administrative case or criminal charge.
A borrower with pending case is still eligible to apply for GFAL if the case was filed by a lending institution due to nonpayment as a result of the prioritization of payroll deductions.
Interested parties may visit the GSIS website (www.gsis.gov.ph) or Facebook account (@gsis.ph); email gsiscares@gsis.gov.ph; or call the GSIS Contact Center at 847-4747, 1-800-8-847-4747 (for Globe and TM subscribers), or 1-800-10-847-4747 (for Smart, Sun, and Talk ‘n Text subscribers).
