The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will return more than ₱19 billion to 1.37 million members and pensioners under a relief program that provides a lump-sum refund of recent loan payments rather than the traditional suspension of future collections.

In a statement, GSIS said the state pension fund’s “Balik Ginhawa” program covers monthly amortizations made between December 2025 and February 2026.

While most relief efforts in the public sector focus on payment holidays, Wick Veloso, GSIS president and general manager, said the agency opted for retroactive refund to inject immediate liquidity into the hands of government workers and retirees.

The scale of the refund is significant relative to the average take-home pay of civil servants. Internal GSIS data indicated that monthly loan amortizations typically range from ₱4,000 to ₱39,000, depending on the principal amount borrowed.

Consequently, eligible members can expect to receive a single payment ranging from ₱12,000 to ₱117,000, representing three months of recovered deductions.

Veloso, a former banking executive who has sought to modernize the fund’s retail lending operations, said the move was a more “responsive” alternative to a standard moratorium.

By continuing automated payroll deductions while returning the cash in a lump sum, he said GSIS maintains its collection efficiency while providing members with a substantial windfall to address immediate financial needs or inflationary pressures.

Under the program’s guidelines, the refund amounts will vary based on the specific number of payments a borrower completed during the three-month window.

The fund clarified that the initiative is strictly performance-based; only those who remained current on their accounts and saw active deductions during the period are eligible for the payout.

Members who did not make payments between December and February will not qualify for the program.

The GSIS has increasingly focused on leveraging its ₱1.6-trillion asset base to support the domestic economy through member-centric credit facilities. This ₱19-billion disbursement represents one of the largest direct-to-member liquidity events in the fund’s recent history, aimed at boosting the purchasing power of the country’s vast public sector workforce.

The fund did not specify the exact timeline for completing the transfers, but indicated that the system is prepared to handle the high volume of transactions. (Derco Rosal)