Duterte orders grant of one-time P20,000 aid to GSIS, SSS pensioners with disability, surviving spouses

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the granting of one-time P20,000 financial aid to employees compensation (EC) pensioners of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Social Security System  (SSS) who have partial or permanent disability, as well as to survivorship pensioners.

Under Administrative Order (AO) 39 issued by the President on Monday, April 19, the move will benefit around 31,000 EC pensioners of SSS and GSIS.

Survivorship EC pensioners, on the other hand, refers to surviving spouse or minor child or children of EC pensioners.

Likewise, AO 39 stated that SSS and GSIS’ actuarial studies for granting the said benefit showed that Social Insurance Fund (SIF) can finance the one-time grant without affecting its stability and without requiring additional contributions.

Earlier, the Employees Compensation Commission approved Board Resolution Nos. 20-07-14 (s. 2020) and 20-08-17 (s. 2020) giving a go-signal for such grant  based on the observation that pensioners experience undue financial hardships because of their vulnerabilities, and in anticipation of the prolonged economic impact of the pandemic on their lives.

“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 read.

AO 39 tasks the ECC, SSS, and GSIS to appropriate and release the amounts necessary to cover the one-time financial assistance from the reserves of the relevant SIF that the SSS and GSIS administer under the EC program.

The ECC, in coordination with the SSS and GSIS, will also be issuing the implementing rules and regulations necessary for the effective implementation of the administrative order.—AOL, GMA News