The guidelines for the Calamity Loan Assistance Program (CLAP) for members and the three-month early pension for retirees residing in areas declared to be in a state of calamity due to the recent onslaught of Typhoon Karding were released by the Social Security System (SSS) on Friday. October 14.
Among these areas are “Nueva Ecija (Province-Wide)”; Dingalan, Aurora; Macabebe and Candaba in Pampanga; San Miguel, Bulacán; Cabangan, Zambales; Concepción, Tarlac; Burdeos, General Nakar, Jomalig, Panukulan, Patnanungan and Polilio in Quezon Province,” SSS said.
The application for the aid programs was opened last October 7 and will last until January 6, 2023.
Under CLAP, members are eligible for a loan “equivalent to the average of their last 12 monthly salary credits or the amount they requested, whichever is lower.”
It has a payment term of two years (24 months) with interest of 10% per year calculated on a decreasing principal balance.
The 1% loan service charge will be waived, SSS said.
The following qualifications for CLAP are: a registered My.SSS account; at least 36 monthly contributions, six of which must be made in the last 12 months before the month of the CLAP application, and at least six monthly contributions made under the current type of coverage/membership before the month of the application for self-employed , volunteers, non-working spouse, and land-based Overseas Filipino Worker members.
The applicant must also be a resident of an area declared to be in a state of disaster; suffered damage or loss of property; has not obtained a claim for final benefits such as permanent total disability or retirement, and has no outstanding restructured loan or CLAP.
The application will be done through the SSS online portal and employed applicants should always have their loans verified by their employers.
The proceeds will go directly to members’ Unified Multipurpose Identity Card registered as an ATM or to their bank account registered in the Disbursement Account Enrollment Module (DAEM), SSS said.
DAEM can be either a Philippine Electronic Funds Transfer System and Transaction Network, or PESONet, or a Union Bank of the Philippines Rapid Card.
Meanwhile, retirees interested in benefiting from the three-month early pension must submit, to their respective SSS branch, a request form for assistance due to calamity/disaster certified by their Barangay President.
A certificate from the Department of Social Welfare and Development or the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management will also be accepted.
The product of the early pension will be released by a check from the SSS agency to which the retiree has submitted his request.
“If the check has not been claimed within 10 business days of receipt from the branch, it will be sent to the retiree’s mailing address,” SSS said.
However, retirees with existing loans under the Pension Loan Scheme will not qualify for the said aid.
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