Select GSIS pensioners to get at least P5,000/mo next year

Manila, Philippines – Select pensioners of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will receive no less than P5,000 in allowance beginning next year, the state pension fund said in a statement.

“In his State of the Nation Address (SONA), the President announced the increase of the basic minimum pension of GSIS’s old-age and disability pensioners to P5,000 effective January next year,” GSIS president and general manager Robert Vergara said in the statement.

“The increase would be more responsive to the needs of old-age and disability pensioners particularly in light of the rising prices of basic commodities,” he added.

According to the GSIS website, old-age pensioners are those 60 years of age and have spent at least 15 years on government service, while those disabled pertain to state workers who have spent at least 15 years in the government.

Under the new pension scheme, no person qualified under the two categories of pensioners will receive less than P5,000.

“The basic minimum pension will be pegged at P5,000. However, individual pension will differ depending on the amount of salary you received for the past 36 months you are in service. The higher your salary, the higher your pension,” GSIS vice-president for communications Marge Jurillo said in a phone interview.

Meanwhile, an additional P200 will be added in the monthly stipend of those already receiving more than P5,000 but less than P8,000, the statement said.

“Those receiving more than P8,000 will be entitled to the 1.5-percent increase in their pension annually just like the others,” Jurillo explained.

President Aquino first bared the pension adjustment in his SONA last Monday after revealing that there are even state pensioners receiving less than P500 a month.

Vergara said more than 100,000 GSIS pensioners would benefit from the pension revision.

“Roughly 57,000 pensioners will enjoy the new minimum pension, while another 50,000 will qualify for the P200 (monthly) increment,” he said.

GSIS also remains stable despite increasing pension, Vergara assured the public, pointing out that the increase would only reduced the actuarial life of the fund by only one year to 2045 from 2046.

Under the GSIS Act of 1997, the GSIS Board of Trustees may recommend to the President of the Philippines an adjustment of the basic monthly pension in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the state pension fund. –Prinz P. Magtulis (The Philippine Star)