BAGUIO CITY March 18 – The City Council unanimously approved a resolution requesting the State-owned Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) to release in advance the monthly pension of retirees to allow them to have the means to cope up with the current implementation of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine which is one of the precautionary measures to prevent the further spread of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the different parts of the country.
The resolution authored by all members of the city legislative body was passed during the recent special session called primarily for the purpose of aligning measures in the implementation of the interventions needed to contribute to the overall efforts in reducing the impact of the enhanced community quarantine to people in the light of the stoppage of work and the suspension of mass transportation, among other restrictions.
Earlier, retirees from the government sector and the private sector urged the city government to help them in convincing SSS and GSIS to release in advance their pensions which they could use in dealing with the present challenges of the enhanced community quarantine.
The resolution claims during extraordinary situations like the current implementation of the enhanced community quarantine, it is important for concerned government agencies to bond together and formulate strategies and interventions that will reduce the impact of the crisis to the retirees, especially that most of them rely on their monthly income for their subsistence and the basic needs of their families.
According to the resolution, the release in advance of the pensions from the pension companies will definitely provide the retirees with adequate resources to use while awaiting the situation to normalize.
The resolution is pursuant to the Memorandum of the Office of the Executive Secretary for concerned government agencies to look for ways and means on how to reduce the impact of the prevailing crisis to the economic activities in the city and the sources of livelihood of the people.
City legislators asserted the SSS and GSIS should continue to look into the welfare of the retirees, especially during the present hard times, as part of their efforts to pay back to those that helped in building up the said institutions through their contributions for several decades that allowed the same to be able to sustain their growth amidst the pressing challenges that confronted them in the past.
Retirees from the government service receive their pension from the State insurance corporation while retirees from the private sector draw their pension from the SSS.
City legislators expressed confidence the SSS and GSIS will give a positive response to the aforesaid request considering that what had been considered in the passage of the resolution is the relief to be provided to the retirees who are also in need of resources to hurdle the challenges of the present times.
By Dexter A. See
