Due to public clamor, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has reinstated its previous policy on survivorship benefits, entitling employed surviving spouse to claim anew the pension and/or cash payment.
GSIS regional manager Deity Manampan said employed surviving spouses affected by the revision in 2009 of that survivorship policy may now claim pension retroactive from 2009.
In 2009, the agency installed several restrictions to the survivorship benefits, laying out several barriers on who would only qualify to avail of such benefits.
GSIS received criticisms and strong opposition from individuals and various groups after it issued the policy limiting the qualifications of beneficiaries, particularly the item that excluded employed surviving spouse to claim benefits.
Republic Act 8291 or the GSIS Act of 1997 provides that “when a GSIS member or pensioner dies, the beneficiaries shall be entitled to survivorship benefits in the form of survivorship pension and/or cash payment.”
In May last year, the officials and members of the Regional Development Council in the region came out with a position paper calling on GSIS to stop implementing its new policy on survivorship benefits.
In its position paper, RDC-11 also called the attention of the “President of the Philippines and GSIS Board of Trustees to abandon said policies” which the RDC described as “unfair and contrary to the Philippine Constitution’s mandate on ensuring and providing for the well-being of the family.”
One policy stated that the “surviving legitimate spouse shall be entitled to survivorship benefits if he/she is unemployed, not gainfully engaged in a business activity (self-employed), not receiving any other pension either from GSIS or another local or foreign institution.”
RDC-11 has pointed out that “even if a surviving spouse is employed or has other sources of income but the same is not sufficient for his/her subsistence, he/she should still be entitled to receive survivorship benefits.”
The Council reacted that “the application of GSIS new policies constitutes double jeopardy for husbands and wives who are both in the government service. Funds used to cover survivorship benefits are taken from the contributions of the members.”
Manampan clarified that this is not the policy anymore, saying that it has reinstated the previous policies that include employed surviving spouses to qualify as beneficiaries. [PIA11/Carina L. Cayon]
