Pensioners hit e-card policy

Garcia Hernandez- GOVERNMENT Service Insurance System (GSIS) pensioners recently rise up in protest over the government policy of using a single private commercial bank as sole transacting establishment for the electronic card. The recent government pension crediting system has allowed when electronic-card holders to claim their pensions from automated teller machines of UnionBank, a bank that has a sole machine serving the multitude of pensioners. With the in-availability of other resources, pensioners are forced to take the long lines to the machine, rendering them another inconvenience. It is inhuman, myopic and undesirable policy of the present dispensation to only allow pensions to be taken solely from Union Bank here, says a retiree who has a mouthful to say against the inconvenience the government dealt on its former servants. I wonder if it is true that somebody is earning from the deal, he asked pressing that there are government banks that have tested in intra-government dealings.

“GSIS could have also used the Philippines National Bank, Land Bank, United Coconut Planters Bank (CocoBank) and the Development Bank of the Philippines so pensioners are given a range of options on the manner they would claim their pensions.” As this system farther mired the pensioners deeper into the mess of claiming their pensions, a call to the provincial officials and representatives to act on the sorry state has been aired recently. Until now however, pensioners said they still have to see what has been done. Further more, GSIS pensioners have now asked the government to go back to the old system which to them was less hassles when pensions were delivered right in their doorsteps. As this developed, pensioners now hope the President looks into their sorry state so help could be crafted soonest.

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