TUGUEGARAO CITY – “The long wait is over” exclaimed  Elvira Baingan after she received a total amount of P220,000.00 from the Employees Compensation Program as retroactive payment for her EC survivorship pension which was suspended from 2006 to April 2014. Baingan is an EC survivorship pensioner since 1997 until it was abruptly ceased in 2006.

According to Baingan, on June 7, 1997, her husband met a vehicular accident which led to his death. As a beneficiary, she regularly received a monthly pension from the EC Program in the amount of P3,240.00.

“Noong huminto po yung nakukuha kong pension mula sa Employees’ Compensation Commision, kinabahan ako dahil yun lang din ang inaasahan naming income ng pamilya ko. Nagpunta pa ako sa GSIS Bayombong para magtanong kung anong dahilan ng pagtigil ng pension ko pero ang laging sagot sa akin ay yun ang decision sa main office po,” said Baingan.

On August 29, 2018, while listening to a local radio program, Baingan heard that a representative from the ECC main office will be interviewed to discuss the benefits and services of the EC Program. She proceeded to the radio station, hoping to personally speak with the representative of the ECC.

After an on-air interview, Baingan was introduced to Atty. Jonathan Villasotto, ECC’s Deputy Executive Director. She expressed the suspension of her EC survivorship pension.

Atty. Villasotto informed Baingan that the ECC Board has already lifted the said suspension and that they just need to wait for the GSIS to credit to their account the retroactive payments.

True enough, Baingan received her EC survivorship in March 2019 pursuant to ECC Board Resolution No. 18-04-15 that provide retroactive payment of suspended EC death benefits in the public sector for the specific period of April 2006 to July 2012 amounting to about P2.52 billion covering about 28 000 survivorship pensioners.