ECC drafting IRR for one-time ₧20K cash aid for EC pensioners

THE Employees Compensation Commission (ECC) has allotted P600 million to fund the one-time financial assistance to its pensioners.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said the fund will be used to provide the P20,000 cash aid to 31,000 members of the Social Security System (SSS) and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), who receive employees’ compensation (EC) pension.

Last Monday, President Duterte signed Administrative Order 39 authorizing ECC to extend the cash aid to pensioners.

“This is great news for all EC pensioners who are further thrown into deep financial hardships made worse by the Covid pandemic. This attests to the President’s soft spot for the poor and the vulnerable,” Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello

III said in a news statement.

ECC Executive Director Stella Zipagan-banawis said SSS and GSIS members who receive EC pension for permanent partial disability (PPD), permanent total disability (PTD), and survivorship will automatically qualify for the one-time cash aid.

In a Viber message, Banawis told the Businessmirror they are now crafting the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for AO 39.

“We are now working on it. We will meet with the SSS tomorrow [Wednesday] to coordinate and finalize [the IRR],” Banawis said.

Among the issues they will discuss will be the processing and the date of the implementation of the AO 39.

She said they are targeting to complete the IRR within the month.