Social Security System (SSS) Executive Vice President for Investments Sector Rizaldy T. Capulong over the weekend said that SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Rolando Ledesma Macasaet announced the condonation of penalties of members with past-due loans to help them regain their good standing with the SSS and once again avail of SSS loans.

Capulong urged members with unpaid short-term member loans to avail of the Consolidation of Past Due Short-Term Member Loans with Condonation of Penalty (Conso Loan), wherein SSS will waive the penalties of their unpaid loans.

“We listen to the clamor of our members and one of which is to offer a condonation program for those who have past-due loans,” Capulong said.

Under the Conso Loan program, Capulong explained SSS shall combine the principal and interest of a member’s past-due short-term member loans into one consolidated loan while all unpaid penalties shall be consolidated and condoned or waived upon full payment of the consolidated loan.

Capulong said that members with outstanding loan obligations in their salary, calamity, emergency, and restructured loans, including the Salary Loan Early Renewal Program (SLERP), are qualified to avail of the program.

"We want to persuade our members with unpaid loans to grab this opportunity to pay their past-due loans without penalties through an easy payment scheme. We launched this program as a relief to aid our members who find it challenging to fulfill their loan obligations with the SSS. This offer is available while the program lasts,” Capulong said.

He added that interested members must meet the following requirements to qualify for the program:

• have a past-due short-term member loan at the time of their application;

• have not been granted any final benefit such as permanent total disability or retirement;

• have not been disqualified due to fraud committed against the SSS; and

• have an active My.SSS account.

He said members may submit their application for the Conso Loan program online through their My.SSS account.

“Members may pay their consolidated loan through a one-time payment within thirty (30) calendar days after receiving the approval notice, or they may also opt to pay through installment,” he said.

For the installment scheme, Capulong explained members must pay a down payment equivalent to at least 10 percent of the consolidated loan within 30 calendar days after receiving the approval notice. Meanwhile, they can pay the remaining balance for up to 60 months, wherein the length of the installment term depends on the amount of the unpaid loan.

However, he noted that if the member fails to meet the payment terms based on the consolidated loan agreement, SSS will deduct the outstanding balance of the consolidated loan from the short-term benefits (sickness, maternity, or partial disability benefit claims) and final benefits (permanent total disability, death, retirement), as authorized by the Social Security Commission (SSC).

He added that the outstanding balance of the consolidated loan can also be deducted from the death benefit of the members’ beneficiaries or deducted from the actual final benefit claims.

As of December 2023, Capulong said that more than half a million members has availed of the Conso Loan program and SSS has already condoned more than P7.3 billion loan penalties.