GSIS TO OFFER COMPUTER, EDUCATIONAL LOANS

State-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will offer loans so its members can pay tuition and purchase computers amid a “new normal” learning environment.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III, who supervises the GSIS as head of the Duterte administration’s economic team, said a P30,000 computer loan program will be launched on Aug. 1.

“This will help members purchase a laptop or desktop in light of the new normal of holding distance or online classes,” Dominguez explained.

The Finance chief said the loan would be slapped 6-percent interest and payable within a three-year period.

Dominguez added that on Sept. 17, the GSIS would also offer to its members an educational loan program “to pay for tuition and other school fees of their nominated student-beneficiaries.”

“The maximum loan amount that can be taken out by a borrower for a given academic school year is P100,000, payable after five years from initial loan take-out,” Dominguez said.

This was on top of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines’ access to academic development to empower the masses toward endless opportunities (Academe) lending program for private schools.

Dominguez said that as of July 1, Landbank had already approved Academe loan applications worth P260 million.

Meanwhile, Dominguez said that as of July 5, state-run pension fund Social Security System (SSS) had already released P1.7 billion to 102,567 borrowers under its calamity loan assistance program (Clap).

Between June 15 and July 5, the SSS approved 478,661 Clap applications worth P7.5 billion in loans.