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| English: GSIS Naga city (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Five branch offices of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) have recently been rated “Excellent” for exemplary service and for complying with the provisions of Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA).
The Civil Service Commission (CSC), the bureaucracy’s personnel agency conducting ARTA survey among government offices, has conferred on the GSIS Bacolod Branch Office the CSC‘s Seal of Excellence last September 13, 2013 for obtaining a 91.57 ARTA rating. It is the first GSIS office to receive the award.
As the CSC continues conducting the survey, four other GSIS branch offices have rebounded from “failed” ratings in 2012 and earned “excellent” scores to date: Bohol (93.28%), Bulacan (93.01%), Laguna (93.01%), and Masbate (90.34%). From a final grade average of 63% for 13 branches surveyed in 2012, the current average for the same branch offices is 89.70%. These include Palawan (89.35%), Tuguegarao (89.28%), Batangas (89.12%), and Lucena (89.11%).
The ARTA passing grade is set at 70%, with no grade falling below 70% in any of the five core areas – conformance with ARTA provisions, frontline service, service quality, physical working condition, and overall (client) satisfaction.
“Receiving those ratings is a welcome indication that the reforms toward service breakthroughs that we initiated in 2012 and started implementing in 2013 are paying off,” GSIS President and General Manager Robert Vergara said.
He added that the ARTA ratings only affirm, among others, that “pursuing improved service and benefits for our members and pensioners remains, as it should, the pension fund’s overarching goal.”
In a related development, Vergara said that the Commission on Audit recently released its unqualified opinion on the financial position of GSIS as of December 31, 2012.
“This is the second time in a row that GSIS has received an unqualified opinion.”
An unqualified opinion means that COA believes that the financial statements of GSIS are sound and are presented fairly “in all material respects”.
He said that 2012 was a “banner year for the pension fund” with total comprehensive income reaching P93.2 billion, from P73.2 billion in 2011 and P63.9 billion in 2010.
In addition, payment of claims for retirement, pension, disability and funeral benefits increased by 23% from P51.7 billion in 2011 to P63.6 billion in 2012. GSIS also granted P37.9 billion in various loans which benefited 1,583,887 borrowers.
