The Government Service Insurance System has approved a P1.6-billion concessional loan package for victims in Albay province of Typhoon “Nina,” which ravaged vast areas of the province along with other areas in the country during the Christmas holidays.
Beneficiaries of the loan package include both GSIS members and pensioners.
Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, who appealed for help in the wake of “Nina” thanked President Rodrigo Duterte and the new GSIS management for the prompt approval of the loan packages.
Salceda personally presented Albay’s condition to GSIS officials led by Chairman Wilfredo Maldea and GM Nora Saludares during the agency’s full board meeting last Tuesday, where he proposed the package of calamity assistance for GSIS members in his province.
“Change is coming because the officials’ decisiveness and generosity are elevated,” he noted.
As of Jan. 9, damage related to “Nina” in Albay has reached over P9 billion, broken down into P3.7 billion in damaged houses, P569 million in agriculture; P11.14 million in poultry and livestock; and P4.73 billion in infrastructures as reported by both the provincial engineering and local government units.
Specifically, Salceda requested three items for cashflow relief and new funds flow to the Albay economy, which were readily approved by the GSIS Board.
The lawmaker asked for P1.431 billion in emergency loans at P40,000 each for active members and P20,000 for pensioners. The loans will be payable in three years with a six-month interest-free grace period.
Salceda also requested for installment payments on P172.068 million in existing loans to be deferred for six months interest free, without Albay resident-members needing to apply for it.
A member who makes a P40,000 emergency loan this month will start paying P1,311.11 in monthly installments starting July 2017, while pensioners can borrow P20,000 and pay P655.56 every month for three years.
In short, Salceda explained, all installment payments on existing loans falling due between February and July will not be collected and will not be charged penalties or additional interest except on their original terms.
Salceda had embarked on at least three emergency financial measures following the devastation by “Nina” in Albay on Christmas Day. The moves were designed to cushion the long-term effects of the destruction and prop up rehabilitation efforts of several heavily devastated towns.
The lawmaker also coordinated with the Social Security System and the Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loan Association Inc. for calamity loans and other assistance these agencies could extend to their members in Albay.
The lawmaker has also started talks with Pag-IBIG or the Home Development Mutual Fund for a quick disbursement of P150,000 in home rebuilding loans for residences damaged by “Nina” in his province, with special urgency for residents of Libon and Polangui towns.
He will also propose a P2.5-billion package in the 2017 Supplemental Budget for Libon, Polangui and Tiwi in the first district, and other parts of Albay, based on the rehabilitation plans these local government units have submitted to the Office of Civil Defense.
“Nina” is reputedly the worst recorded calamity in the province in the past 10 years, and was even more devastating than super typhoon “Reming” (Durian) in 2006.