SSS issues revised calamity loan guidelines aid lower interest rate

The Social Security System (SSS) on Wednesday said it is issuing the revised Calamity Loan Program (CLP) guidelines aimed at helping members in areas declared under State of Calamity (SOC) due to various natural disasters, including Tropical Cyclone “Crising.”

In a statement, SSS president and CEO Robert Joseph de Claro said the issuance of revised CLP guidelines follows through on the announcement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on May 1, 2025, during which he announced the reduction of interest rates for salary and calamity loans.

“We proposed and obtained approval of the Social Security Commission, headed by our Chairperson Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, to reduce interest rates for calamity loans to 7% per annum from the current rate of 10%. This follows the reduction of interest rate for salary loans to 8% per annum from the previous 10% which was implemented last month,” De Claro said.

The reduced interest rates applies for members with “good credit records” such as loan applicants without availment of penalty condonation for the past five years.

The revised guidelines have also been tweaked to allow calamity loan renewal after six months provided that the existing CLP is not past due.

“An important improvement in the revised guidelines is the streamlining of the activation process of the Calamity Loan Program (CLP) which will allow activation of the program within seven working days from the calamity event date.  Previously, activation of the calamity loan program takes about one month,” De Claro said.

“SSS Branch Operations Sector and International Operations Group units will have a more active role in the activation process when they endorse State of Calamity declarations to the SSS Member Loans Department within two calendar days from date of issuance,” he added.

The salient features of the revised CLP guidelines are as follows:

Loanable amount: Equivalent to one Monthly Salary Credit (MSC) computed based on the average of the last 12 MSCs rounded up to the nearest thousand or the amount applied for, whichever is lower and capped at P20,000.

Availment period: Up to 30 calendar days to commence on the date of announcement of the availability of the CLP in a newspaper of wide circulation.

Eligibility requirements: Members must have at least 36 monthly contributions – six of which must be posted within the last 12 months prior to the month of filing. 

For individually paying members, they must also have at least six posted contributions under their current membership type (self-employed, voluntary, or land-based OFW) and must be registered in the SSS website (My.SSS facility) for filing of online application.

A member must also have no past due loan accounts and no outstanding restructured loan and must have not been granted any final benefit.

Moreover, a member must be of legal age and under 65 years of age at the time of application for loan and must have not been disqualified due to fraud committed against the SSS.

Employer of employed member must be updated in payment of contributions and loan remittances.

Filing of loan application: A member may file / submit the calamity loan application online through the SSS website by accessing his / her My.SSS account or through the SSS Mobile App.

Release of loan proceeds: Loan proceeds shall be released through active UMID ATM card or active single account in any PESONet participating bank in the name of the member which must be enrolled in the Disbursement Account Enrollment Module (DAEM) of the member-borrower’s My.SSS account.

Repayment term and schedule of payment: The loan shall be payable within two years in 24 equal monthly amortizations. The loan amortization shall start on second month following the month of approval of the loan.

Service fee: Service fee of 1% of loanable amount shall be charged and deducted from proceeds of the loan.

Penalty: Loan amortization not remitted on due date shall bear a penalty of 1% per month computed and charged for every day of delay. If the loan remains unpaid after 24 months, 10% annual interest and 1% monthly penalty will apply until fully paid.

“With the issuance of the revised CLP guidelines, SSS will provide emergency financial relief to mitigate impact of natural disasters to members and help get them toward the path of recovery under liberalized terms and conditions,” De Claro said.

In 2024, the SSS disbursed nearly P10 billion in calamity loans to over 560,000 affected members. 

For this ear, the SSS is earmarking approximately P20 billion for calamity loans, “underscoring its commitment to helping members recover financially from natural disasters.” — RSJ, GMA Integrated News