DAMAGED houses in the province of Dinagat Islands, where tropical cyclone Odette (international name: Rai) made its second landfall on Dec. 16, 2021. — DINAGAT ISLANDS PIO

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) on Friday said it was now offering emergency loans to members hit by Typhoon Rai, locally named Odette. 

The financing will be available to active members residing or working, as well as old-age and disability pensioners living in the Mimaropa region, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao and Caraga, it said in a statement. 

GSIS President and General Manager Rolando G. Macasaet said members may apply for a loan online that will have a tenor of three years that can be paid in monthly installments at 6% interest. 

Qualified members who do not have existing emergency loans may apply for as much as P20,000 in financing. Borrowers with existing emergency loan may borrow as much as P40,000 to pay off their previous loan balance and still receive a maximum net amount of P20,000. 

Meanwhile, Party-list Rep. Bernadette R. Herrera-Dy urged the Pag-IBIG Fund, also known as the Home Development Mutual Fund, to lend to Odette victims for home repairs. 

The agency should find ways to extend low-interest loans for house repairs and rebuilding and give the typhoon victims cash aid, she said in a statement. 

Ms. Dy also asked the Trade department’s Small Business Corporation to help typhoon survivors whose jobs have been affected by the disaster. — Luz Wendy T. Noble and Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan 

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