About 40,000 students benefit from P719.86-M SSS educational loans


The Social Security System (SSS) has released a total of P719.86 million in “study-now, pay later” loans for student-beneficiaries of more than 38,000 member-borrowers who had availed themselves of the SSS Educational Assistance (Educ-Assist) Loan Program since its launch in 2012.
SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio S. de Quiros, Jr. said the Educ-Assist program, which is a joint project of the SSS and the national government (NG) involving a P7 billion amount funded on a 50:50 basis, provides loans at affordable terms for tuition and miscellaneous fees for college, vocational and technical courses. It has funded the education of 39,970 students as of July 31, 2013.
“The Educ-Assist program helps ease the financial worry that parents and family breadwinners face during school enrollment,” he said. “With the coming second semester enrollment, we encourage SSS members to consider the Educ-Assist facility as a financing option for their loved ones to gain wider access to education and better job opportunities, as the grant of the program shall be made available until the entire fund has been fully allocated.”
SSS members can borrow up to P20,000 for college and P10,000 for vocational or technical (voc-tech) courses every semester or trimester until the beneficiary graduates. A total of 37,947 college students comprise the bulk of Educ-Assist beneficiaries, who were granted a total of P700.71 million in loans, while an additional P19.15 million was released for 2,023 students enrolled in voc-tech courses.
“The loan beneficiaries can be the members themselves, as well as their legal spouse and children. Married members can borrow for up to two beneficiaries, while unmarried members can use the loan for the education of their sibling, including their half-brother or half-sister,” de Quiros said. “Most often, the chosen beneficiary is the child of the SSS member.”
Initial availments, or funds released to first-time Educ-Assist borrowers, reached P563.76 million, while subsequent availments, or loans disbursed to repeat borrowers, totaled P156.10 million. Nearly a quarter of the 38,263 total borrowers as of July 2013 have at least one subsequent availment.
“Members benefit from Educ-Assist’s low interest rate of only six percent per annum for the SSS portion, which will be based on the diminishing principal balance until full payment, while the NG's portion carries zero interest,” de Quiros said.
The repayment period is up to five years for loans used for college degree programs and up to three years for voc-tech courses. Loan repayment will only start one year after the date of graduation or the date of last loan release for those who will not avail of the subsequent loans. A monthly penalty of one percent will be charged for any unpaid amortization.
The Educ-Assist program is open to members with at least 12 monthly contributions, one of which should be within the last three months prior to the date of application. Since the loan program is aimed at low-income earners, members must have an actual basic salary of P25,000 or below per month to be eligible for the program.
Members should also have updated salary or housing loan payments, although those with overdue accounts must not have over three unpaid monthly amortizations, de Quiros added. The loans are released as checks made payable to the school where the beneficiary is enrolled and are sent to member-borrowers thru registered mail.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more