DBM releases P3.46B to cover half of GSIS premiums owed to teachers

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P3.46 billion to cover 50 percent of the government’s P6.92-billion share in unpaid GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) premiums for public school teachers and other Department of Education workers, the DBM said Wednesday. The unpaid premiums are for the period of July 1, 1997 to December 31, 2010. The funds will be sourced from the 2012 budget and allow the teachers and DepEd employees to claim their GSIS benefits, including their retirement benefits and monthly pension. The fund release is part of a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the DBM, Deped and the GSIS. Since the funds are an advance payment, the GSIS has agreed to give the government a 5-percent discount, bringing the money they owe to P6.58 billion. The DBM will release the remaining balance upon the DepEd’s validation of the total outstanding premium obligations, as well as the GSIS’s submission of documentary requirements including a billing statement. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad also said that the release of the funds is the first step in restoring the employees’ benefits. He also said that those responsible for neglecting the payment of the premiums should be penalized, and that long-term solutions are needed so that it should not happen again. Abad added that a National Payroll System, which would address such problems, would benefit DepEd employees. "The integration of DepEd workers into the National Payroll System should address this problem, as well as boost transparency and accountability in the management of salaries for government workers,” he said. — BM, GMA News