SSS to extend calamity assistance to members, pensioners affected by Typhoon Fabian

The Social Security System (SSS) will open a calamity assistance package starting November 2, 2021, to help its members and pensioners in Calapan and Naujan in Oriental Mindoro, Malabon City, and all other areas that may be declared by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to be under the state of calamity due to Typhoon Fabian.

SSS President and CEO Aurora C. Ignacio said there are three programs under the package, which are the Calamity Loan Assistance Program (CLAP) and Direct House Repair and Improvement Loan for members, and Three-month Advance Pension for Social Security (SS) and Employees’ Compensation (EC) pensioners.

“Through these programs, we aim to provide our members and pensioners with the financial means to recover from the effects of Typhoon Fabian,” Ignacio said.

The CLAP and Three-month Advance Pension will be offered until February 1, 2022, while the Direct House Repair and Improvement Loan will be open for one year from issuing its corresponding SSS Circular, which is until October 20, 2022.

Calamity Loan Assistance Program

Through the CLAP, qualified members may avail a loan equivalent to the average of their last 12 monthly salary credits (MSCs) rounded up to the nearest thousand or the amount they applied for, whichever is lower.

To qualify for the program, members must:

• Have a My.SSS account at sss.gov.ph;
• Have at least 36 monthly contributions, six of which should be posted within the last 12 months prior to the month of application;
• Be a resident of an NDRRMC-declared calamity area and suffered damage or loss to their property due to Typhoon Fabian;
• Have not been granted any final benefit such as permanent total disability or retirement;
• Have no outstanding Loan Restructuring Program (LRP) or CLAP; and
• For the releasing of loan proceeds, have a registered Unified Multi-Purpose Identification (UMID) – Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Card; or an account with a Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) participating bank or a Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) Quick Card registered in the Disbursement Account Enrollment Module (DAEM) in their My.SSS account.

Application to the program must be coursed through the member’s respective My.SSS account. For those employed, their employer must certify their application through the employer portal of the My.SSS.

The loan, payable in two years in equal monthly installments, has an interest rate of 10 percent per annum, where the one percent service fee is already waived.

The first amortization will start in the second month following the date of the approval of the loan. The payment deadline is every last day of the month following the applicable month, but in case it falls on a weekend or holiday, payment may be made on the next working day. Late payments will incur a penalty of one percent per month.

Three-month Advance Pension

The Three-month Advance Pension is offered to all SS retirement, disability, and survivor pensioners; as well as EC disability, and survivor pensioners whose residences are located in the calamity areas declared by the NDRRMC due to Typhoon Fabian.

To apply, they must submit at any SSS branch a properly accomplished Application for Assistance Due to Calamity/Disaster Form (downloadable at https://bit.ly/AdvancePensionForm)  duly certified by their Barangay Chairman; or the said form together with a certification from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or NDRRMC.

Retirement pensioners who have existing loans under the Pension Loan Program (PLP), however, are disqualified to avail.

Direct House Repair and/or Improvement Loan

For SSS members whose houses were damaged or destroyed due to Typhoon Fabian, they may apply for the Direct House Repair and/or Improvement Loan with a maximum loanable amount of P1 million.

To qualify a member must:

• Have a total of 24 monthly contributions, three of which must be posted within the last 12 month period prior to the month of application;
• Be not more than 60 years old at the time of application;
• Have not been previously granted a House Repair and/or Improvement Loan by the SSS; and
• Have not been granted any final SSS benefit nor was refunded SSS contributions.

Moreover, he/she and his/her spouse must be up-to-date in the payment of all other existing loans with the SSS.

The interest rate for loans of up to P450,000 is eight percent, while for those over this amount, the interest rate is nine percent.

There is a six-month moratorium in monthly amortization and interest payments for the loan. The processing fee has also been waived by the SSS.

The loan term can either be five, 10, 15, or 20 years, plus the moratorium of six months. However, the term must not exceed the economic life of the house or improvement after the repair and/or improvement were introduced (to be determined by the SSS); and the difference between the age of the applicant and 65.

The first amortization will begin on the seventh month from its approval and is payable in equal monthly installments.

Applications to the program must be filed at the Member Loans Department in the SSS Main Office (for those in the NCR), or Housing and Acquired Asset Management Sections located in the SSS Building in San Vicente, Tarlac City (Central Luzon) or SSS Building in Balagtas Boulevard, San Pablo City (Southern Luzon).

The complete details of the SSS’ calamity assistance package can be accessed at https://bit.ly/SSSCirc2021-012.

For more information, visit the uSSSap Tayo Portal at https://crms.sss.gov.ph, follow the SSS on Facebook and YouTube at “Philippine Social Security System,” Instagram at “mysssph,” Twitter at “PHLSSS,” or join its Viber Community at “MYSSSPH Updates.”