GSIS releases P3.93B Christmas cash gifts to pensioners

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) on Thursday announced the release of P3.93 billion in Christmas cash gifts to its eligible pensioners.

In a news release, GSIS said 411,692 eligible pensioners are expected to receive cash gifts equivalent to one month’s pension or P10,000, whichever is lower on December 4, 2025.

The pension fund added that this year pro-rata pensioners and those who retired under the Portability Law (RA 7699), who were not included in previous years, are now covered by the cash gift for the first time.

Pro-rata pensioners are members who rendered at least 15 years of service but with less than 15 years of paid premiums.

Portability Law pensioners are those whose GSIS and SSS contributions were combined to qualify for social insurance benefits.

GSIS said those eligible to receive the cash gift are old-age, retirement, and disability pensioners who are in active status, receiving their regular or pro-rata monthly pension, and are living as of November 30, 2025.

Meanwhile, those who are not eligible for the cash gift include survivorship and dependent pensioners; those who availed of a five-year lump sum and will resume their pension after December 31, 2025; retirees from 2021 to 2025 who took the 18-times cash payment and immediate life pension under; and members separated from service from 2006 to 2025 before age 60 who began receiving their regular pension in 2021 to 2025.The pension fund, moreover, said it will also credit the December monthly pension earlier, moving it to December 5 instead of the regular schedule on December 8, to give pensioners more time to prepare for the holidays.

“We want our pensioners to feel valued and supported, especially during the Christmas season. That is why we expanded the coverage of the Christmas cash gift to include an additional 14,992 pro-rata and Portability Law pensioners, who were previously excluded from this annual benefit,” said GSIS president and general manager Wick Veloso.

All cash gifts will be automatically credited to the GSIS ATM accounts of eligible pensioners.

GSIS reminded pensioners to comply with the Annual Pensioners’ Information Revalidation (APIR). 

Those with suspended pensions due to APIR non-compliance as of December 31, 2025 may still claim their cash gift once their status is reactivated, it said.

APIR may be completed conveniently anytime, anywhere through the facial recognition feature of the GSIS Touch mobile app, the pension fund added. —VAL, GMA Integrated News