We wrote to clarify the issues raised in the letter of Danilo Consumido which was published in the Inquirer (“GSIS should improve services to members before Maharlika,” 12/9/22).
First of all, we wish to apologize to Consumido as assessing his eligibility for pension benefits took us a longer time than usual. This is because it necessitated a thorough review and validation of all his records including documents dating as far back as March 5, 1973, or a little less than 50 years ago. Moreover, his services from March 1999 to October 2010 have gaps and were rendered in various government agencies. We had to validate, review, verify facts and information, and check available documents to make sure that there was no previous retirement benefit paid to Consumido.
However, this did not take four months as mentioned by Consumido as our records show that his application was filed on Oct. 12, 2022, and all his claims were already credited to his ecard on Dec. 16, 2022. In between said dates, Consumido had been kept informed on the status of his transactions through his representative.
An exhaustive review of his records yielded the information that he had previously filed a retirement claim under Republic Act No. 6683 (An Act Providing Benefits for Early Retirement and Voluntary Separation from the Government Service) in May 1989. The claim has been paid accordingly.
This makes him ineligible to claim for benefits using the same period previously paid under RA 8291 (GSIS Act of 1997). His services after 1989 have a total length of 7.34 years, which is less than the 15-year minimum service requirement for pension benefit. Thus, he is not qualified to receive the monthly pension and retirement benefits under RA 8291.
Thank you very much and we trust, that in the interest of fairness, you would also present our side of the story in your newspaper.
Margie A. Jorillo,
vice president,
corporate communications office,
Government Service
Insurance System