(PNA file photo by Robert Alfiler)
MANILA – State pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will release PHP3.47 billion for the Christmas cash gift of more than 300,000 old-age and disability pensioners starting Dec. 6.
The cash gift will be credited to their eCards, GSIS President and General Manager Wick Veloso said in a news release on Friday.
The Christmas cash gift is equivalent to the pensioner's one-month pension or PHP10,000, whichever is lower.
Eligible to receive the Christmas cash gift are old-age and disability pensioners under Republic Act (RA) 8291 (GSIS Act of 1997); Presidential Decree 1146 (Revised GSIS Act of 1977); and Republic Act 660 (Magic 87, or the law that grants retirement at the minimum age of 52 as long as the member has been in government service for at least 35 years) who are receiving their regular monthly pensions and are alive as of Nov. 30, 2023.
Also qualified are pensioners who availed of the five-year lump sum benefit and who resumed their regular monthly pensions after Dec. 31, 2022 (following the five-year period); members who separated from the service from 2007 to 2023 before reaching the age of 60 but started receiving their regular monthly pension from 2018 onward; and those who have been regular pensioners for at least five years.
Old-age and disability pensioners who are on suspended status due to non-compliance with the Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation will receive their cash gifts after they have reactivated their status.
Meanwhile, the following are ineligible to receive the cash gift: pensioners who availed of the five-year lump sum but will receive their regular monthly pension after Dec. 31, 2023; survivorship and dependent pensioners; pensioners who retired under Republic Act 7699 (Portability Law or contributions under both Social Security System and GSIS for purposes of eligibility and computations of benefits); and those receiving pro-rata pension.
New retirees from 2019 to 2022 who availed of the 18-month cash payment of their basic monthly pension and immediate pension under RA 8291 will receive their cash gifts five years after their retirement. (PNA)
