The Social Security System (SSS) is ramping up its campaign to collect past due obligations from members.
Rizaldy Capulong, SSS executive vice president, said there is an ongoing condonation of penalties for loans to help members “regain their good standing” with the agency.
Under the SSS Conso Loan program, the SSS shall combine the principal and interest of a member’s past-due short-term member loans into one consolidated loan while all unpaid penalties shall be consolidated and condoned or waived upon full payment of the consolidated loan, Capulong said.
He said members with outstanding obligations in their salary, calamity, emergency and restructured loans, including the salary loan early renewal program, are qualified to avail of the program.
“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 said.
Capulong, however, said to qualify for the program, members must have not been granted any final benefit such as permanent total disability or retirement, and have not been disqualified due to fraud committed against the SSS. They must also have an active My.SSS account.
Capulong said members may submit their application for the Conso Loan program online through their My.SSS account.
“Members may pay their consolidated loan through a one-time payment within 30 calendar days after receiving the approval notice, or they may also opt to pay through installment,” he said.
For the installment scheme, Capulong said 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.
“Meanwhile, they can pay the remaining balance for up to 60 months, wherein the length of the installment term depends on the amount of the unpaid loan,” he added.
Capulong, however, noted 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 (sickness, maternity or partial disability benefit claims) and final benefits (permanent total disability, death, retirement), as authorized by the Social Security Commission.
The outstanding balance of the consolidated loan can also be deducted from the death benefit of the members’ beneficiaries or from the actual final benefit claims, he said.
As of end-2023, Capulong said, more than half a million members have availed of the Conso Loan program and SSS has condoned more than P7.3 billion loan penalties.