GSIS president and general manager Rolando Macasaet (File photo courtesy of GSIS)
MANILA – The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has suspended until end-2020 the annual pensioner’s information revalidation (APIR) to lessen pensioners’ chances of catching the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
In an interview during the Laging Handa public briefing Tuesday, GSIS president and general manager Rolando Macasaet said the agency’s Board of Trustees has decided to suspend APIR since the pensioners are considered high-risk individuals.
“So, even ho hindi sila pupunta sa GSIS, iyong kanilang pension po ay itutuloy namin po kahit hindi sila magpakita sa GSIS from now until December 2020 (So even if they do not go to GSIS until December 2020, we will continue to give them their pensions),” he said.
Under APIR, pensioners need to report to GSIS during their birth month to show proof of life. This prevents past experiences wherein pension benefits are released even if the pensioners have already died because this was not reported to the agency.
Macasaet said GSIS will start by January 2021 an initiative wherein GSIS staff will be the ones to check the pensioners’ proof of life.
He said they are now upgrading their system to accommodate the digitalization of APIR starting January next year to prevent their system from collapsing just like what happened in 2007.
“And very conscious na po kami dyan at sinisiguro ko po na hindi magko-collapse. So ina-update po namin iyong computer system namin po para maging online na talaga ito. (We are very conscious about this to prevent our system from collapsing. So we’re updating our computer system to implement this (program) online),” he added. (PNA)
