Employees’ Compensation Commission earmarks P600M for one-time P20K aid to pensioners

The Employees' Compensation Commission (ECC), an attached agency under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), has set aside P600 million to roll out the grant of a one-time P20,000 financial aid to vulnerable pensioners of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS).

In a statement, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that the P600 million earmarked by the ECC will benefit around 31,000 pensioners consisting of both private and public sector workers.

The Labor chief chairs the ECC.

On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Administrative Order (AO) 39, which directed the grant of a one-time financial assistance of P20,000 to all employees’ compensation pensioners who have partial or permanent disability, as well as to survivorship pensioners. 

"This is great news for all EC pensioners who are further thrown into deep financial hardships made worse by the COVID pandemic. This attests to the President’s soft spot for the poor and the vulnerable,” Bello said.

The P20,000 one-time financial assistance will be granted to all EC pensioners for permanent partial disability (PPD), permanent total disability (PTD), and survivorship through ECC's implementing agencies, Social Security System (SSS) for the private sector, and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for the public sector, once the implementing rules and regulations has been issued.

For her part, ECC executive director Stella Zipagan-Banawis said all qualified pensioners need not apply to the GSIS or SSS, as it will be automatically granted to them in the same manner as their pension was processed.

“The adverse effects of the pandemic on the economy, supplementary health necessities for the battle against the virus, and restrictions imposed on our mobility and social interaction, have increased the financial and health burdens experienced by the EC pensioners,” AO 39 reads. — Ted Cordero/BM, GMA News