Retiree still hopeful GSIS will correct its errors

In my letter titled “Please remedy oversights, retiree appeals to GSIS” (Opinion, 3/18/14), I stated that “After a series of communications, appeals and petitions (over a year) related to my retirement claim under Presidential Decree No. 1146, the GSIS Board of Trustees denied it per its Resolution No. 151 dated Dec. 12, 2013. However, the denial was made on the basis of the two related oversights.”

Until now, the Government Service Insurance System is not giving a clear signal that it will remedy the oversights. Thus, I am inclined to agree with Jose Osias who said, in his letter titled “PH democracy’s last stand” (Opinion, 4/16/14), that “Depending on government is what Filipinos cannot afford to do. Even granting President Aquino’s personal sincerity, the executive department is paralyzed by an administration merely ‘sloganeering’ through a 6-year term with incompetent and uncaring bureaucrats.” He further stated that “Filipinos must become proactive simultaneously on two main fronts. Lessening corruption is one front. Improving the economy is another.” He mentioned that this can be done through parallel efforts related to 1) the countryside entrepreneurship advocacy named BalikProbinsiya which catalyzes livelihoods that can empower the Filipino and 2) reduction, if not eradication, of corruption by scrutinizing the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth that errant public officials filed in the Civil Service Commission.

I now have a plan to engage in livelihood projects in the field of fisheries in my home province of Zamboanga del Norte. Since the fund that comes from my Social Security System monthly pensions will not be enough, I am looking for additional funding. In view of this, I am still hopeful that the GSIS Board of Trustees, composed of bureaucrats appointed by President Aquino, will grant my retirement claim under PD 1146.

—EDMUNDO ENDEREZ,

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