Nearly 4,000 GSIS retirees and survivorship pensioners who have not submitted their application for the start of their pension, may now apply through email as an alternative method of filing.
“This is meant to minimize their risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus. They can now do it at the comfort of their own homes,” GSIS President and General Manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet said.
Further, the pension fund chief stressed that the online filing of application for pension is one of the strategic ways adopted by GSIS to adjust its existing operational processes under the new normal.
Retirees under Presidential Decree 1146 (Revised GSIS Act of 1977), Republic Act 8291 (GSIS Act of 1997), and Republic Act 7699 (Portability Law), who will start receiving their monthly pension between January and July 2020, will benefit from this new system. Also covered by the online filing of pension are surviving spouses or guardians of the children of deceased GSIS retirees, members, or pensioners.
”Applicants for pension commencement only need to email three documents to GSIS: accomplished application form; photo of their Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) or eCard, or, in the absence of both, two valid IDs; and copy of their retirement vouchers. Surviving spouses, however, need to send an email of self-declaration that they have not remarried or cohabited with another person or cohabited since the death of their spouse. The form is downloadable in our website, www.gsis.gov.ph ,” Macasaet explained.
He said that the documents must be emailed to the designated email address of the handling GSIS office or branch not earlier than one month before the start of pension. After receiving the documents, GSIS will schedule a video interview with the pensioner who will be informed of the details of the interview through email, SMS message or telephone.
“In the interview with pensioners, they may choose the videoconferencing mode they prefer — Viber, FB Messenger or Skype. We need to interview them to validate certain matters regarding their pension application,” Macasaet said.
Pensioners and other individuals who have inquiries on the online filing of pension may visit the GSIS website, www.gsis.gov.ph; GSIS Facebook Page, @gsis.ph; or call the GSIS Contact Center at 8847-4747 (if in Metro Manila) or 1-800-8-847-4747 (for Globe and TM subscribers) and 1-800-10-847-4747 (for Smart, Sun, and Talk ‘N Text subscribers).
