Through the Commonwealth Act No. 186 of 1936 and amended by Republic Act No. 8291, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), as a social insurance institution, is mandated to insure government workers against the occurrence of certain contingencies in exchange for monthly premium contributions. Thus, its members and their qualified dependents are entitled to different social security benefits.

GSIS’ primary benefit package consists of compulsory life insurance coverage which is classified into Life Endowment Policy, where it provides maturity benefits to policy holders upon reaching the maturity of their policy; and the Enhanced Life Policy, which took effect in 2003 and provides automatic yearly insurance coverage to new GSIS members based on their monthly compensation. The latter is also designed to provide an enhanced death benefit for the family of the deceased member.

The insurance system also allows its retiring members to choose from various retirement programs depending on their age and length of service. On the other hand, if an employee chooses to be separated from the service even before reaching the retirement age of 60, GSIS gives a separation benefit that can either be in the form of cash payment or both cash payment and pension subject to eligibility.

In case of involuntary separation as a result of the abolition of office or position, GSIS grants the unemployment benefit to a permanent government employee in the form of monthly cash payments equivalent to 50% of the average monthly compensation in accordance to some requirements.

GSIS also has the following benefit programs: disability benefits for members, who, because of physical or mental impairment prevent them to continue with work; survivorship benefits for the surviving spouses and dependents of members and pensioners; and a P30,000 funeral benefit payable to the family of the deceased member.

In times of financial need, active members of the institution can also avail of different loan products offered by GSIS including the Enhanced Consolidated Salary Loan (ConsoLoan) Plus, Policy Loan, Enhanced Emergency Loan, Pension Loan, and Pensioners Emergency Loan.

Meanwhile, to enhance its quality of service further, the institution launched electronic GSIS Member Online (eGSISMO) in 2016. eGSISMO is a Web-based system that enables active members to electronically view their membership information including membership profile; record of loans and claims; tentative computation of their social insurance benefits, and recently, even their loanable amount. This service allows members to save their time — allowing them to access information anytime anywhere instead of personally going to a GSIS office or finding a GSIS kiosk to inquire about their loanable amount.

As a testament of improved services of the institution, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) recognized GSIS this year as the Frontline Service Champion under the 2017 Anti-Red Tape Act Report Card Survey. The said survey is conducted annually to check an agency’s compliance with the Anti-Red Tape Act, a law which aims to improve frontline service delivery in the government. Moreover, CSC also recognized GSIS as Seal of Excellence Hall of Famer for being included in the roster of agencies that earned the most number of Seal of Excellence Awards from 2010 to 2016.

By 2022, GSIS aims to be a premier social insurance institution that is included in the top three defined-benefit pension fund institutions in the ASEAN region. — Romsanne R. Ortiguero

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