GSIS to refund P126M to DepEd employees

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will refund a total of P126.47 million to more than 20,500 active and retired employees of the Department of Education (DepEd) beginning April. Covered by the refund — the second since January — are employees whose cash surrender value (amount paid to the policyholder upon separation from the service) or maturity benefit (benefit payable upon maturity of the endowment policy) were deducted premiums-in-arrears for July 1997 to December 2010. According to the state-run pension fund, the second tranche of refund represents the payment of premium contributions pertaining to the government share, which were previously deducted from the life insurance benefits of the employees. Last January, GSIS provided an initial refund of P362.35 million that benefited more than 73,000 DepEd personnel. This was after the GSIS received the P3.46 billion payment of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) representing half of the total P6.92 billion in unpaid compulsory premium contributions, or  the government’s share of more than 800,000 teaching and non-teaching employees of the DepEd from July 1, 1997 to December 31, 2010. “The settlement formed part of a milestone agreement signed in September last year, among DBM, DepEd and GSIS, which finally addressed the chronic issue on the non-remittance of premiums affecting the right of DepEd workers to avail themselves of their full GSIS benefits while in service and upon their retirement,” said GSIS president and general manager Robert Vergara. As a result of the second tranche of refund, “more than 14,000 DepEd employees in active service will enjoy a proportionate increase in loanable amounts and potentially, increased retirement benefits,” Vergara said. GSIS said it would also recalculate the benefits received by 6,530 separated and retired employees and will refund any deducted amount.  — KBK, GMA News