Public school teachers to receive long delayed premiums before year-end
Public school teachers will have more reason to enjoy Christmas this year.
This was after three government agencies signed Tuesday a Memorandum of Agreement seeking to grant nearly P7 billion in unpaid premiums to thousands of teachers before the end of 2012.
The agreement — the signing of which was witnessed by President Benigno Aquino III himself — came less than a month before World Teachers’ Day on October 5.
In what Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro called “a decisive move by the Aquino administration,” the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), together with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Budget Management (DBM) came together to provide a realistic and equitable solution to the chronic issue of unpaid benefits to some 780,000 active and retired DepEd employees.
Under the terms of agreement, the DBM is set to shoulder the entire government share of premiums deficiencies that have accumulated for over 13 years.
GSIS President Robert Vergara said the DBM will settle payments from 1997 to 2010. According to the MOA, the DBM will settle P6.92 billion of premium-in-arrears and will advance P3.46 billion, or half of the total amount. The GSIS will then condone P14 billion of accrued interest and grant a five-percent discount on the principal.
Forty percent of the members of the government ensuring body are teachers, Vergara said.
“It would be somewhere between one to two months [before employees can claim the benefits,]” Vergara said, adding that he’s holding his agency accountable to the time frame.
“I'll hold them to that, I want this to be implemented before the end of the year,” he said.
The MOA will pave the way for GSIS benefits such as loan, disability and retirement privileges to be restored to teachers, Luistro said.
“Active members who are eligible will also have these benefits potentially increase,” Vergara added.
But DepEd employees aren’t the only government workers who have unpaid benefits, Vergara admitted. In their last estimate on premium receivables, there are somewhere between P4-5 billion in unpaid benefits spread across several government agencies other than the DepEd. — Patricia Denise Chiu/KBK, GMA News
This was after three government agencies signed Tuesday a Memorandum of Agreement seeking to grant nearly P7 billion in unpaid premiums to thousands of teachers before the end of 2012.
The agreement — the signing of which was witnessed by President Benigno Aquino III himself — came less than a month before World Teachers’ Day on October 5.
In what Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro called “a decisive move by the Aquino administration,” the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), together with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Budget Management (DBM) came together to provide a realistic and equitable solution to the chronic issue of unpaid benefits to some 780,000 active and retired DepEd employees.
Under the terms of agreement, the DBM is set to shoulder the entire government share of premiums deficiencies that have accumulated for over 13 years.
GSIS President Robert Vergara said the DBM will settle payments from 1997 to 2010. According to the MOA, the DBM will settle P6.92 billion of premium-in-arrears and will advance P3.46 billion, or half of the total amount. The GSIS will then condone P14 billion of accrued interest and grant a five-percent discount on the principal.
Forty percent of the members of the government ensuring body are teachers, Vergara said.
“It would be somewhere between one to two months [before employees can claim the benefits,]” Vergara said, adding that he’s holding his agency accountable to the time frame.
“I'll hold them to that, I want this to be implemented before the end of the year,” he said.
The MOA will pave the way for GSIS benefits such as loan, disability and retirement privileges to be restored to teachers, Luistro said.
“Active members who are eligible will also have these benefits potentially increase,” Vergara added.
But DepEd employees aren’t the only government workers who have unpaid benefits, Vergara admitted. In their last estimate on premium receivables, there are somewhere between P4-5 billion in unpaid benefits spread across several government agencies other than the DepEd. — Patricia Denise Chiu/KBK, GMA News
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