SSS EXTENDS LOAN RESTRUCTURING PLAN BY 6 MORE MONTHS

The Social Security Security has extended until April 1 next year its ongoing second round of loan restructuring program.

“We are glad to announce that the second loan restructuring program with penalty condonation will be extended for another six months to accommodate more members who have outstanding short-term obligations with the SSS,” the state-run pension fund’s president and chief executive Emmanuel F. Dooc said in a statement Friday.

The program was initially supposed to end next week, as it had been scheduled for implementation from April 2 to Oct. 1 this year.

Last Thursday, the SSS said it already gained P2.1 billion in additional income as of August, exceeding the P1.2-billion target for the initial six-month implementation period.

In the first five months of implementation, the SSS condoned P4.3 billion in penalties as it restructured P4.9 billion in loans of 296,086 member-borrowers.

“The loan restructuring program is one of our ways to extend our assistance to our members who were not able to pay on time their loan obligations with the SSS. We understand that there were untoward instances like the occurrence of natural calamities such as earthquakes and typhoons that made loan repayments quite uneasy for them,” Dooc said.

“We are encouraging our members to immediately file their loan restructuring program applications and do not wait for the last minute filing next year. We’d like to remind them that their outstanding loan will still incur interests. The SSS will only condone their penalties,” Dooc added.

Under the program, members can “settle their overdue loan principal and interest in full or by installment under a restructured term depending on their capacity,” the SSS said.

Members can pay their overdue loan in full within 30 days with no additional interest, or apply for an installment payment term of up to five years with a minimal interest rate of 3 percent a

year, according to the SSS.

The SSS had said the program covered all member-borrowers who have past due loans such as salary loan, emergency loan, old educational loan, study now pay later plan, voc-tech loans, Y2K loans, and investments incentive loan.

According to the SSS, penalties would be condoned upon full payment, while also allowing loan renewal after six months.

However, the SSS will allow only a one-time condonation availment such that members cannot undergo another condonation or restructuring program in the future.

Also, member-applicants may qualify for the loan re- structuring program if their loan was overdue for a minimum of six months, the SSS said.

“Member-applicants should be residing or employed in any of the calamity areas declared by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council or the national government,” the SSS added.