A sleeping giant no more

I write this letter to share with the Inquirer and its readers my deep appreciation of today’s GSIS management and rank and file, especially its president/general manager and his staff.

I feel the winds of change have finally reached the venerable institution of the Government Service Insurance System: a more people-friendly and cheerful disposition as well as greater dedication to service among its employees, and a more efficient system.

I say this because of a recent experience. Soon after my husband died in September 2007, I filed for survivorship benefits but for several years had to go to the GSIS countless times to follow up my application. Nothing happened. So I abandoned a seemingly hopeless quest.

Then I read in the Inquirer the letter of GSIS president Robert G. Vergara announcing that GSIS restored or revived benefits (Inquirer, 4/16/11). Heartened by this announcement, I followed up again my application.

Finally, after almost five years to the day my husband died, I got the benefits.

My message to those with pending applications: Just follow up and don’t lose hope. The GSIS is no longer the lazy, sleeping giant bureaucracy that it was. It is now more responsive to its clients’ and members’ needs. I commend its management and employees for their good work.

—EVELYN TIROL, 10 Catleya St., Mindanao Ave. Subd., QC