THE Social Security System (SSS) said Friday that it has released over P1.15 billion in calamity loans to 70,000 members.Most of the recipients were survivors of the series of typhoons that hit the country late this year.'The series of extreme weather conditions have immensely affected our members' financial well-being. In response, many have quickly availed our calamity loan assistance to replace or repair their damaged properties,' said SSS Public Affairs and Special Events Division acting head Carlo Villacorta.'We hope that loan privileges provided by SSS will support their full recovery, just in time for the holiday season,' he added.To qualify for a calamity loan, members must have at least 36 monthly contributions, six of which must be posted within the last 12 months before the month of filing of loan application.Individually paying members such as self-employed workers, as well as voluntary and land-based overseas Filipino workers, must have at least six posted monthly contributions under the current membership type before the month of calamity loan application.Applicants must have no final benefit claim such as permanent total disability or retirement, have no past due SSS Short-Term Member Loan, have no outstanding restructured loan or calamity loan, and must submit an employer-certified loan application online (My.SSS facility), if employed.SSS members living or residing in typhoon-hit areas declared under state of calamity by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council have until Dec. 21 to submit their calamity loan applications through their My.SSS account, Villacorta said.
