SSS to offer calamity assistance to members, pensioners affected by Typhoon Odette

The Social Security System (SSS) will offer a Calamity Assistance Package to members and pensioners affected by Typhoon Odette starting January 14, 2022.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said that the Calamity Assistance Package consist of the Calamity Loan Assistance Program (CLAP) and Direct House Repair and Improvement Loan for members, and the three-month advance pension for pensioners in areas affected by Typhoon Odette as declared by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Members and pensioners in MIMAROPA, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and CARAGA, as well as other areas that may be declared by the NDRRMC to be under the state of calamity due to typhoon, can avail of the SSS Calamity Assistance Package.

“It is unfortunate that the recent typhoon affected the daily lives and livelihood of our members and pensioners in these several areas. Through the SSS Calamity Assistance Package, we can extend financial aid to our members and pensioners as they try to recover from the effects of Typhoon Odette,” Ignacio said.

SSS will offer the CLAP for its members and the Three-month Advance Pension to its pensioners until April 13, 2022. Meanwhile, the Direct House Repair and Improvement Loan will be open to qualified members for one year upon issuance and effectivity of SSS Circular No. 2021-020.

Calamity Loan Assistance Program

Under the CLAP, qualified members can avail of a loan amount equivalent to one month salary credit (MSC) computed based 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, affected members must meet the following requirements:

• 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 before the month of filing of application;
• A resident of a calamity-stricken area declared by the NDRRMC and suffered damage or loss to their properties due to Typhoon Odette;
• Have not been granted any final benefit such as permanent total disability or retirement;
• Have no outstanding Loan Restructuring Program (LRP) or CLAP; and
• If employed, the member’s employer must certify the CLAP application through online My.SSS facility.

Interested members can apply for CLAP using their respective My.SSS account.

Approved loan proceeds will be credited  to member-borrower’s account through the members’ registered Unified Multi-Purpose Identification (UMID) – Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Card, their active accounts with a Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) participating bank, or their Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) Quick Cards registered in the Disbursement Account Enrollment Module (DAEM), which can be found on their My.SSS accounts.

The loan is payable in equal monthly installments for 24 months or two years. It has an interest rate of 10% per annum, and the service fee of 1% of loan amount is already waived.

The first loan amortization will start in the second month following the date of the approval of the loan. For example, their loan was approved on January 21, 2022. They will start paying their loan amortization by March 2022. On the other hand, the loan’s 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 1% penalty per month.

Three-month Advance Pension

Retirement, disability, and survivor pensioners under the Social Security (SS) Program, and disability and survivor pensioners under the Employees’ Compensation (EC) Program pensioners may apply for a three-month advance pension. Interested SS and EC pensioners must be residents of the typhoon-affected areas declared by NDRRMC

To apply, they must submit a properly accomplished Application for Assistance Due to Calamity/Disaster Form 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 to any SSS branch. They can download the application form at www.sss.gov.ph or click this link: https://bit.ly/AdvancePensionForm.

However, retirement pensioners who have existing loans under the Pension Loan Program (PLP) are disqualified from availing of the three-month advance pension.

Direct House Repair and/or Improvement Loan

SSS also extends financial assistance to its members whose houses were damaged or destroyed due to Typhoon Odette. Qualified SSS members may apply for the Direct House Repair and/or Improvement Loan. Under this, they can borrow a maximum loanable amount of up to P1 million.

To qualify, affected members must meet the following requirements:

• Have a total of 24 monthly contributions, three of which should be posted within the last 12-month period before the month of filing application;
• Not more than 60 years old at the time of filing 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.
• The member and his/her spouse must be up-to-date in the payment of all other existing loans with the SSS.

It has an interest rate of 8% for loans amounting to up to P450,000, while for those over P450,000, the interest rate is 9%. SSS has also waived the processing fee for the said loan.

Member-borrower will have a six-month moratorium for the loan’s monthly amortization and interest payments. They will only start paying their loan amortization of the 7th month from its approval and is payable in equal monthly installments.

Moreover, loan term will be in 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) as well as the difference between the age of the applicant and 65.

Interested applicants can file their loan applications at the Member Loans Department in the SSS Main Office for those in the NCR, or the Housing and Acquired Asset Management Sections located in SSS San Pablo for those in Southern Luzon, SSS Cebu for those in Central Visayas, SSS Bacolod for those in Western Visayas, SSS Davao for those in Southern Mindanao, SSS Cagayan De Oro for those in Northern Mindanao, and SSS Zamboanga for those in Western Mindanao.

SSS has allotted P2.18 billion for the implementation of the Calamity Assistance Package, which will benefit an estimated 236,509 active members and pensioners in the typhoon-affected areas.

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