AN official of the Social Security System (SSS) is calling on SSS members with unpaid short-term loans to avail of the state-run pension manager’s loan condonation program to waive the penalties of their unpaid loans.
To help private employees availing of the state pension fund regain their good standing with the SSS and once again avail of its loans, SSS said the penalties of its members with past-due loans are now condoned through its “Consolidation of Past Due Short-Term Member Loans with Condonation Penalty,” or “Conso Loan.”
“We listen to the clamor of our members and one of which is to offer a condonation program for those who have past-due loans,” SSS Executive Vice President for Investments Sector Rizaldy T. Capulong said.
Capulong explained that under the SSS’s “Conso Loan” program, the principal and interest of a member’s past-due short-term member loans will be combined by the SSS into one consolidated loan. Upon full payment of the consolidated loan, all unpaid penalties shall be consolidated and condoned or waived.
Members who are qualified to avail of the program are those with outstanding loan obligations in their salary, calamity, emergency, and restructured loans, including the Salary Loan Early Renewal Program (SLERP), Capulong added.
Those interested in availing of the program must have a past-due short-term member loan at the time of their application, have not been granted any final benefit such as permanent total disability or retirement, have not been disqualified due to fraud committed against the SSS, and have an active My.SSS account.
Members may submit their application for the “Conso Loan” program online through their My.SSS account.
A one-time payment of the consolidated loan within 30 calendar days after receiving the approval notice may be paid by the member or they may also choose to pay through installment.
Under the installment scheme, members must pay a down payment equivalent to at least 10 percent of the consolidated loan within 30 calendar days after receiving the approval notice.
The remaining balance may be paid for up to 60 months, wherein the length of the installment term depends on the amount of the unpaid loan, Capulong added.
However, if the member fails to meet the payment terms based on the consolidated loan agreement, SSS will deduct the outstanding balance of the consolidated loan from the short-term benefits, such as sickness, maternity, or partial disability benefit claims.
The final benefits, such as permanent total disability, death, and retirement will also be deducted, as authorized by the Social Security Commission (SSC).
The outstanding balance of the consolidated loan may also be deducted from the death benefit of the members’ beneficiaries or the actual final benefit claims.
“We want to persuade our members with unpaid loans to grab this opportunity to pay their past-due loans without penalties through an easy payment scheme. We launched this program as a relief to aid our members who find it challenging to fulfill their loan obligations with the SSS. This offer is available while the program lasts,” Capulong was quoted in a statement as saying.
According to the SSS official, more than half a million members have availed of the “Conso Loan” program and SSS has already condoned more than P7.3 billion in loan penalties as of December 2023.