Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) executives led by its President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso are in Iloilo for a series of engagements aimed at enhancing their services not only for their members but also for employees.
Veloso, in a press conference, said their forum with superintendents of the Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday afternoon was part of their continuing engagement with stakeholders to discuss issues and challenges faced by teachers and have them addressed by enhancing their delivery of services.
“It’s a continuous process of engagement for us to know how we can improve our multi-purpose loan; how we can continue to be able to help them get out of those (loan sharks). We can do it through focused product review and ensuring that delivery of these services is best suited to our customer base,” he said, adding that 50 percent of their 2 million members nationwide are from DepEd.
Veloso did not divulge much detail about the enhanced multipurpose loan as they are still polishing the details before its formal launch.
He also announced their housing program under the Pabahay sa Bagong Bayani na Manggagawa (PBBM) sa Pamahalaan Program which aimed to provide decent housing to GSIS members.
“We have more than a hundred residential properties available for lease at the Florvel Homes in Oton, Alta Tierra, and Zamora-Sto. Rosario Streets in Iloilo City,” he said.
He added that they will be reaching out to local government units for an understanding of a housing program, if they can provide a lot for GSIS to develop.
Veloso also announced their new digital program that will make it easier for pensioners to comply with their Annual Pensioners’ Information Revalidation (APIR) through the facial recognition feature of the GSIS Touch mobile application using smartphones.
The process that eliminates the need for them to leave their home and visit GSIS branches for the APIR stands to benefit the around 28,000 pensioners in Western Visayas.
Meanwhile, lawyer Joseph Philip T. Andres, GSIS acting Senior Vice President for Visayas and Mindanao, said that Western Visayas has recorded a high 93 percent collection efficiency for outstanding loans that were disbursed to its members in the region in 2022.
“Our collection efficiency is 93 percent. For every PHP100 outstanding loan, 93 percent is being paid. But of course, we still want to improve on that,” he said during the media conference.
He said that the amount of loans disbursed in the region stood at PHP19.8 billion; 58 percent were availed by members from the DepEd, which comprises 57 percent of the total membership in the region.
Andres added that the collection rate is improving because they have instituted reforms like putting on a threshold for the premium payment.
Early in the morning, they inaugurated their newly refurbished branch office and a three-door dormitory to further improve the convenience of its transacting clients and provide accommodation for its employees, respectively.
Also joining Veloso and Andres were GSIS chairman Rodolfo Del Rosario Jr, and Trustees Evelina Escudero and Rita Riddle. (PNA)
