GSIS to release Christmas cash gift of pensioners starting Dec.1

Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) would start releasing the P3.3 billion worth of Christmas cash gifts for their 330,496 senior citizen and disability pensioners starting December 1.

“Every year, our pensioners look forward to receiving the cash gift which they call their Christmas bonus. Thus, we made sure that the cash gift will be credited to their electronic card (eCard) before Christmas this year to somehow relieve them of the additional financial expenses during the Christmas season,” GSIS President and General Manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet said in a press release on Sunday.

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Pensioners who received a P10,000 Christmas cash gift last year would be given an amount equivalent to their one-month pension up to a maximum of P10,000.

Meanwhile, pensioners with over P10,000 Christmas cash gifts in 2019 would get a one-month pension up to a maximum of PHP12,600. Pensioners who resumed their regular monthly pension after Dec. 31, 2019 (after the five-year guaranteed period) will be given a one-month pension up to a maximum of PHP10,000.

Old-age and disability pensioners whose pensions were suspended before the Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation (APIR) requirement was temporarily lifted in March 2020 and are still on suspended status as of Dec. 1, 2020, will also receive the cash gift, provided they activate their status with GSIS on or before June 30, 2021.

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Not eligible for the Christmas cash gift are survivorship pensioners, dependent pensioners, pensioners under RA 7699 (Portability Law), and those receiving pro-rata pension.

GSIS to release Christmas cash gift of pensioners starting Dec.1

New pensioners from 2016 to 2020 who availed of immediate pension under RA 8291 are also not yet entitled to receive the cash gift. They will start receiving their Christmas cash gift five years after their retirement date.

Those who availed of a five-year lump sum and who will resume their regular monthly pension after Dec. 31, 2020, are also not eligible for the benefit.

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Likewise, GSIS members who resigned or separated from government service before reaching 60 years old and who started receiving their regular monthly pension between 2016 and 2020 will only receive the cash gift five years after regularly receiving their pension.

For details, interested parties may visit the GSIS website, www.gsis.gov.ph; GSIS Facebook account, @gsis.ph; email gsiscares@gsis.gov.ph; or call the GSIS Contact Center at 8847-4747 (if in Metro Manila), 1-800-8-847-4747 (for Globe and TM subscribers), and 1-800-10-847-4747 (for Smart, Sun, and Talk ‘N Text subscribers).