SSS salary loan releases reach P4.94-B ,in Luzon helps over 287,000 borrowers

MALOLOS, Bulacan --- More than 287,000 members of the Social Security System (SSS) in Luzon availed themselves of SSS salary loans from January to November 2015, with total loan disbursements reaching P4.94 billion during the 11-month period.

         SSS Senior Vice President for Luzon Operations Group Josie G. Magana noted that about eight of out every 10 borrowers were members covered as regular employees who received a combined P4.33 billion in salary loan releases, which was 88 percent of the total disbursements in Luzon.

         Magana shared that SSS branches in Luzon also disbursed a total of P476.59 million for 36,315 voluntary members; P66.90 million for 4,073 overseas Filipino workers; and P64.17 million for 7,997 self-employed individuals within the first 11 months of 2015.

         “The salary loan is one of the privileges extended to members who actively pay their SSS contributions. Depending on their total number of contributions and monthly salary credit (MSC), members can borrow up to P32,000. The salary loan is paid over a spread of two years, with the payment of monthly amortizations starting on the second month following the date of the granting of the loan,” Magana said.

          Members with at least 36 monthly contributions, of which six are paid within the last 12 months prior to the month of application, are eligible for the one-month salary loan that ranges from P1,000 to P16,000, depending on the borrower’s MSC or reported monthly income to the SSS.

         Meanwhile, members with a minimum of 72 monthly contributions, including the required six monthly contributions posted within the 12-month period preceding the application date, are eligible for the two-month salary loan, which is twice as much as their applicable MSC capped at P32,000.

         Magana noted that disbursements under the regular Salary Loan Program comprised more than 99 percent of loan releases during the 11-month period, which amounted to P4.89 billion granted to 284,946 loan borrowers.

         The remaining P41.75 million, or less than one percent of the total, consisted of loan funds released under the Salary Loan Early Renewal Program (SLERP), which benefited a total of 2,168 loan borrowers from Luzon who were affected by natural calamities that hit the country last year.

         The SLERP is offered as part of the SSS calamity relief packages launched by the agency to assist members affected by natural disasters. The program allows salary loan borrowers to renew their existing loans even if they have not yet paid the required 50 percent of their overall loan amortizations, which is a condition under the regular implementation of the Salary Loan Program.

         SSS members in Luzon benefited from the calamity relief packages launched in October last year for Typhoon “Lando,” which covered the declared calamity areas such as the provinces of Isabela and Aurora, and the municipalities of Arayat, Pampanga; Supon, Ilocos Sur; Calumpit, Bulacan; Infanta and General Nakar, Quezon; and Camiling and Ramos, Tarlac. (pr/SSS)