The Social Security System (SSS) will offer calamity loan assistance to its members who have been affected by Typhoon Carina in Metro Manila and other regions that have been declared under state of calamity.
Rolando Ledesma Macasaet, SSS president and chief executive officer, said members residing in areas affected by the typhoon will be able to avail themselves of a loan amount equivalent to their one-month salary credit or up to a maximum of P20,000.
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“SSS will always be ready to assist our members in typhoon-affected areas. We want to assure them that in times of calamities, they can rely on SSS to provide them the needed financial assistance as they recover from Typhoon Carina,” Macasaet said in a statement.
To qualify for the calamity loan, typhoon-affected members must meet specific criteria.
Firstly, they should have at least 36 monthly contributions, with six of these contributions posted within the last 12 months before the month of filing the application.
Additionally, they need to be living or residing in the declared calamity area, and must be below 65 years old at the time of the loan application.
Furthermore, they should have no final benefit claim such as permanent total disability or retirement, no past due SSS Short-Term Member Loans, and no outstanding restructured loan or calamity loan.
According to Macasaet, interested members can apply for the calamity loan using their My.SSS account via www.sss.gov.ph.
“Once approved, the loan proceeds will be credited to the member’s registered Unified Multi-Purpose Identification (UMID)-ATM Card or their active accounts with a Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) participating bank,” he said.
The SSS chief said members could pay the calamity loan in two years or 24 equal monthly installments with an annual interest rate of 10 percent.
“We hope that through the calamity loan assistance, we may be able to help typhoon-affected members as they recover from the adverse effects of Typhoon Carina,” Macasaet concluded.