RETIRED government workers and their surviving spouses who are receiving monthly pensions from the Government Social Insurance Service (GSIS) are urged to approach their nearest branch before the end of the month.
Lawyer Mercedes VPE Enriquez, GSIS Cebu Branch manager, told reporters that pensioners ages 80 and below or those availing of survivorship must avail of their Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation (Apir) program before or on June 30 to avoid suspension of their pension.
At present, more than 18,000 GSIS pensioners live in Cebu.
Of the 18,000 pensioners from Cebu, more than 13,000 are retired government officials and employees while 7,000 are surviving spouses of deceased pensioners.
Enriquez said the annual revalidation is needed as a way for GSIS to determine how many remaining pensioners and those availing of survivorship are still active.
The program was introduced by GSIS president and general manager Jesus Clint Aranas as a way to validate the status of pensioners.
Enriquez said pensioners 80 and below are required to visit their nearest GSIS Branch office or any GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System (Gwaps).
Gwaps kiosks are available in Cebu’s three highly urbanized cities, six component cities and in the municipalities of Argao, Barili, Bantayan, Camotes, Daanbantayan, Malabuyoc, Oslob and Tuburan.
GWAPS kiosks are also present at Robinson’s Place and SM City in Cebu City.
Pensioners are required to swipe their Unified Multipurpose Identification Card (UMID) for revalidation.
For pensioners 80 and below but are bedridden, Enriquez urged their relatives to provide a written request to their office for visitation.
Bedridden pensioners are required to provide medical certification or barangay certification stating the pensioner is a resident of the area.
Enriquez also reminded pensioners whose birth month falls from July to December 2018 and have undergone mass reactivation from March 23 to June 30 are still required for revalidation. (JKV/SunStar Cebu)