Boholanos
still await action on the plea of GSIS pensioners to correct the existing eCard
system which has brought a lot of inconvenience to old-age pensioners.
This
came even as Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has vowed to intercede for old-age
pensioners with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to ease their burden
in claiming their pensions using the eCard.
This
after Gov. Erico Aumentado presented to her Friday night a resolution of the League
of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) that he heads and an aide memoir portraying
the plight of pensioners especially in areas where there is only one branch or
none at all of the Union Bank.
"Ilocos
Sur Gov. Luis Chavit Singson sponsored the resolution during the LPP general assembly
Friday morning while I prepared the aide memoir for the President inviting attention
to the plight of old-age, usually sick and disabled pensioners," the governor
said.
| | | The
President committed to take the issue up not only with GSIS President and General
Manager Winston Garcia but with the system's Board of Trustees as well, he said.
The
eCard may be a blessing for pensioners residing in cities and urban areas but
it is a bane for those living in remote areas, he explained.
He
said he used as an example the plight of a pensioner from the island town of President
Garcia off his hometown of Ubay 125 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital,
Tagbilaran City. |
A
P1,000 pension is simply not worth going to the city: One has to pay fare for
the pump-boat from the island to Ubay, for the bus - or for convenience, an air-conditioned
van from Ubay to Tagbilaran, for the multicab from the bus terminal to the waiting
area in the city and from there to the lone Union Bank branch, and vice versa.
In
case the queue is too long, a pensioner might be forced to stay in the city overnight.
Good if he or she has relatives, but if not, they need to pay for board and lodging,
he explained.
The
hassle - and the expense - is doubled if the pensioner is disabled and has to
bring a companion.
The
pensioner should be given options - not forced to swallow the eCard hook, line
and sinker, he emphasized.
His
example, he said, drew sympathy from the governors who also had similar cases
to relate, hence, the Singson-sponsored resolution.
Aumentado
will meet the President again this week. By then, he said he expects to learn
what steps the GSIS has taken to mitigate the old-age pensioner's burdens. | 
