Government Service Insurance System

The Government Service Insurance System (Filipino: Paseguruhan ng mga Naglilingkod sa Pamahalaan, abbreviated as GSIS) is a government owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) of the Philippines. Created by Commonwealth Act No. 186 passed on November 14, 1936, the GSIS is mandated to provide and administer the following social security benefits for government employees: compulsory life insurance, optional life insurance, retirement benefits, disability benefits for work-related contingencies and death benefits. In addition, the GSIS is entrusted with the administration of the General Insurance Fund by virtue of RA656 of the Property Insurance Law. It provides insurance coverage to assets and properties which have government insurable interests.

Legislation

Coverage

The GSIS covers all government workers irrespective of their employment status, except employees who have separate retirement schemes under special laws, to wit:

Benefits and services

The principal benefit package of the GSIS consists of compulsory and optional life insurance, retirement, separation and employee's compensation.

Active GSIS members are entitled to the following loan privileges: salary, policy, emergency and housing loans..

Organizational structure

The governing and policy-making body of the GSIS is the Board of Trustees, the members of which are appointed by the President of the Philippines.

The GSIS workforce consists of 3,104 employees, 52% of whom are in the Head Office while the remaining 48% are in the Branches. To date, there are 40 branches and 78 satellite offices nationwide. It is envisioned that the System's service network will continue to increase as the institution is committed to provide branch offices in every province where there exists a minimum of 15,000 active members.

Old GSIS Headquarters Building

The Government Service Insurance System Building, built in 1952 in Arroceros (near SM Manila, the previous location of the YMCA Building) was one of the first of the new buildings programmed for the New Republic to be completed. Designed by Federico Ilustre, the structure's character stand at the intersection between neoclassical and modern aesthetics. As a transitional style for government architecture, its façade generated a series of ascending fluted pillars that had neither bases nor capitals to express a stripped and simplified modern stye, yet, at the same time, it has the character of classical massings and proportions. The corner of the building had been rounded, forming a corner tower with three vertical bays of windows ascending from the entrance canopy. To the left of this corner tower, a flat wall was fenestrated with vertical louvers and pierced screen insets. The elevation in the other corner was defined by horizontal bands of windows and concrete planes.[1]

The GSIS building used to house the main office of the then Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, and of the Office of the Ombudsman. Some of its outer rooms currently house the office of city election officers and several branches of the metropolitan trial court.[2]

This heritage building,right behind Manila City Hall is being targeted next for demolition and in clear violation of the law on heritage. The owners have been asked by Manila City Hall when they were going to demolish this Federico Ilustre landmark.[3]

Coconut Manila had asked James Jao, the architect and London School of Economics-trained urban planner on the plan for rescuing the built heritage structure. "This building can be gentrified into a mixed-use development. By retaining the existing structure, it can be the podium of a high-rise building behind including an atrium... The existing GSIS Building can host upscale retail shops and some restaurants, with a lobby/reception on one side for the hotel or condominium (office or residential). This approach can complement the existing SM City mall. An underground walkway can connect both the GSIS and SM," he responded.[4]

Computerization

Database crash

On April 2 and May 11, the GSIS Integrated Loans, Membership, Acquired Assets and Accounts Management System (ILMAAAMS) went into a database crash, causing the agency to incur a backlog in its processing of claims and loan applications. The GSIS filed on June 1, 2011, a P100-million damage suit against the IBM Philippines and its parent firm, as well as contractor Questronix Corp. for supplying defective database software that led to the computer crash.[5]

UMID

The GSIS was the first government agency in the Philippines to adopt the Unified Multi-Purpose ID System, "which aims to streamline and harmonize the identification systems of all government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations through the use of a unified multi-purpose ID".[6] On August 16, 2011, the GSIS announced that enrollment for the eCard has reached its one million mark.[6]

Investments

On January 25, 2008, GSIS President and General Manager Winston F. Garcia announced "that it will be investing a total of $5 billion in fixed income, equities and properties [in the Philippines] and abroad ... initially investing $1 billion this year in global markets, and another $1 billion locally".[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lico, Gerard (2008). Arkitekturang Filipino: A History of Architecture and Urbanism in the Philippines. Quezon City: The University of the Philippines Press. p. 351. ISBN 978-971-542-579-7.
  2. ↑ Aning, Jerome (May 28, 2012). "Lim Urged: Stop Wrecking Manila Heritage Buildings". Inquirer.net. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  3. ↑ Alcazaren, Paulo (July 21, 2012). "A Dozen Years of Pillage". PhilStar.com. The Philippine Star. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  4. ↑ Coconuts Manila (February 12, 2014). "15 Heritage Buildings that Need to be Rescued". ABS-CBN News.com. ABS-CBN News. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  5. ↑ Villafrania, Alexander; Domingo, Ronnel (June 3, 2009). "GSIS sues IBM, seeks P100M in damages". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  6. 1 2 Leyco, Chino S. (August 16, 2010). "GSIS’s UMID eCard enrollment hits 1 million". The Manila Bulletin. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  7. ↑ Arcibal, Cheryl (January 25, 2008). "GSIS investing $5B in global, local instruments". GMA Network Inc. Retrieved August 5, 2011.

External links

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