By CHINO S. LEYCO
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is urging old-age and survivorship pensioners to use the pension fund’s online platform to comply with the personal appearance requirement.
In a statement, Rolando Ledesma Macasaet, GSIS president and general manager said that pensioners who were unable to comply with the activation of pensioners information revalidation (APIR) before March can now do it online.
"The safety of our elderly pensioners, who are among the most susceptible to COVID-19, remains our top priority. To ensure that all of them receive their pension without letup during the enhanced community quarantine, GSIS has been adjusting its operational procedure,” Macasaet said.
He said that providing an online service for the personal appearance requirement for pensioners is part of the pension fund’s efforts to protect and assist all its pensioners amid the country’s health emergency situation.
Earlier, GSIS has extended to May 15, 2020 the deadline for pensioners born in March and April to comply with APIR.
Under normal situations, the pension fund requires all old-age and survivorship pensioners to report to the nearest GSIS office or GSIS kiosk during their birth month to ensure continued receipt of their pension.
It has been a monitoring mechanism to prevent pension overpayment to deceased pensioners.
Despite this concession, according to Macasaet, some pensioners may have failed to undergo APIR even before the program was suspended last March 17.
“We are accepting APIR requirements online because we want our pensioners to stay safe at home during the COVID-19 crisis,” he said.
To comply with the online APIR, pensioners must send via email a letter requesting GSIS to activate their status and send it to an email address designated by GSIS for particular areas.
The letter must indicate the date of request and contain their details, namely, complete name; complete address; contact number (mobile or landline); and signature.