The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) announced that the Annual Pensioners’ Information Revalidation (APIR), which started last March 23, will end on June 30, 2018. This means that all pensioners must present themselves to GSIS to prove that they are still alive until the end of the month.
In a telephone interview with Ms. Marina Ignacio of GSIS Palawan Office, she reiterated that pensioners must take this matter seriously for this will suspend their monthly pension starting July 2018, if they did not comply with Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation.
APIR is the yearly personal appearance of old-age GSIS pensioners and survivorship pensioners who are 79 years old and below, to renew their active status. This mass reactivation will reflect the true status of the pensioner and we also want to ensure that the pensioner himself will receive the benefits.
The pensioners need to present the UMID card and one valid government-issued ID for the APIR. If they fail to appear, their pension will automatically be cut off the following month after their active status expires. However, once they make an appearance, they will continue to receive their pension.
In case a pensioner cannot personally come to the GSIS office due to poor health condition, he may request for home visit by writing to GSIS about his status. The requirements for home visit include: name of pensioner, birthday and complete address (to include sketch of residence) and medical certificate or barangay certificate which states that the pensioner is a resident of his stated address.
GSIS Palawan had already conducted caravans in order to cover the nearby municipalities, including island municipalities of the province.
Surprisingly, Palawan got only almost 56% of pensioners who complied with APIR activities. Among the municipalities which got highest compliance were: Araceli, with almost 81 %, in which only four pensioners are missing to appear in the office; Dumaran got almost 85 % in which five pensioners missed to comply; and even El Nido, which had an 89 % compliance as only five pensioners have to report until end of this month.
Over all, including Puerto Princesa which has a total of 1622 pensioners, only 865 had complied with and there were 485 active pensioners who have to report, of which 292 are survivor pensioners.
Ms. Ignacio, GSIS Palawan Manager, is optimistic that these pensioners will comply with the reporting requirement in order for their pensions not to be suspended. She added that GSIS is prioritizing the needs of pensioners because “we feel this is the time that they need us more than ever at this stage in their life when they feel they are not as productive as before.”