Responsive to the needs of its employees, the Department of Education (DepEd) further outstretched assistance to its employees through various financial measures and interventions, including a three-month moratorium on loan payment for all DepEd Provident Fund (PF) loans without interest.
On Monday, April 6, Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones approved Board Resolution No. 02, s. 2020 of the DepEd Provident Fund National Board of Trustees, which imposed a three-month moratorium on payment of loans, in compliance with the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act”.
The payment period for the said Provident Fund will also be extended for an additional three months while borrowers will not be charged accrued interest and penalty during the moratorium period, which can be extended upon the extension of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) by the President.
In addition, DepEd also secured an agreement with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for a grant of moratorium in three-month suspension of loan payments for their members and pensioners.
“We express our appreciation to GSIS, as well as the Provident Fund National Board of Trustees, for their kind understanding of the burdens of our teachers and staff. We will continue our efforts to protect the interests of our officials, teaching and non-teaching personnel,” Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.
Loan amortizations automatically deducted under the DepEd’s payroll system for April 2020 on behalf of GSIS and DepEd PF will also be returned eventually to concerned DepEd borrowers through special payroll and will be credited to their respective payroll accounts.
Further, the Department has coordinated a better arrangement with private lending institutions (PLIs) to its Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS) program, which is aimed to be more responsive and beneficial to all concerned employees. The DepEd will not remit loan deductions for the payroll month of April 2020 to the PLIs but instead the said amount will be refunded to the concerned DepEd employees.
No deductions will be effected during the ECQ period and the termination of the loan amortizations, in effect, will be automatically extended in DepEd’s payroll program for one month or based on the duration of the ECQ period.
On the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB), the Department was notified by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that four DepEd regional offices (Region II, IV-A, V, and XII) were already endorsed for processing and eventual releasing of PBB funds for school-based personnel. Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla explained that the DBM is processing the PBB evaluation of other regional offices on a first-come, first-served basis and will be made available for release as soon as possible.
“DepEd is consistently following up for other regions’ PBB and the request for reconsideration for eligibility to grant PBB for non-school-based personnel, as well.” Usec. Sevilla noted.
PASIG CITY, April 7, 2020
DepEd
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