VARIOUS local government units (LGUs) and line agencies owe the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) more or less P30 billion in premium arrearages, GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia said on Wednesday.

But one LGU, the city government of Quezon City, settled the reconciled principal of its premium arrearages worth P43 million with the GSIS.

The settlement, however, still leaves more than 8,000 LGUs and line agencies whose premium payments continue to lag behind.

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte turned over to Garcia a check for P43 million, the bulk of which represented premium arrearages by previous city administrators.

Some P33 million or 70 percent of the amount Belmonte paid the GSIS on Wednesday were unpaid premium incurred by city executives before Belmonte’s time.

Belmonte also gave Garcia a check for P7.6 million as payment for a piece of property at the so-called Payatas Estate which the LGU has acquired to serve as its dumpsite.

According to Garcia, P35 million of the arrearages represented Quezon City’s premium contribution, P6 million represented city employees’ contribution and the other P2 million as employee compensation.

The arrearages included P8 million worth of premium payments by casual Quezon City employees who eventually became permanent city government workers, Garcia said.