THIS REFERS to the recent Government Service and Insurance System dialogue with its stakeholders in Cabanatuan City. Indeed this dialogue, which the GSIS holds in various regions of the country, has made the GSIS the government’s most responsive and most service-oriented agency.
Based on its rosy operations report to its stakeholders, the 78-year-old pension fund has come a long way since Daniel Lacson Jr. and Robert Vergara, my fellow Cabanatueño, took over its management as chair, and president and general manager (PGM), respectively, in 2010.
It may be recalled that the GSIS then was experiencing problems in its operations such that it could not efficiently serve the requirements of its members and pensioners. So, it was rated by the Civil Service Commission as “one of the three worst government agencies” in terms of serving its constituents. Worse, the agency was suffering from financial hemorrhage due to faulty investments.
Not anymore. Through the policy changes and adjustment measures implemented by the Lacson/Vergara-led administration, the GSIS is now capable of serving and addressing the needs and concerns of its members and pensioners efficiently and effectively.
Last year, the agency posted a record comprehensive income of P140 billion, enabling it to increase the perks and benefits for its 1.83 million members and retirees, particularly the small-income members and old-age pensioners. The additional perks and benefits earned for it the government’s “caring institution” moniker.
Today, the GSIS has a new chair in the person of Renato de Guzman, an accomplished banker who is a fellow Cabanatueño of PGM Vergara. With the two top caliber Cabanatueños managing the once discredited agency, expect the GSIS to be more efficient and more productive. Cheers for the Cabanatueños!
—PRUDENCIO E. MAGPAYO,Cabanatuan City