Manila: Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) members and pensioners with arrears may now qualify for refunds under the expanded Balik Ginhawa 2 program, an official announced on Monday. During the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing, GSIS Executive Vice President Joseph Philip Andres highlighted the enhanced program's decision to remove a previous restriction that barred borrowers with unpaid balances from availing of the benefit.
According to Philippines News Agency, the new iteration of the program allows borrowers with loan arrears to still be eligible for refunds. Andres explained that the initial version of the Balik Ginhawa program excluded those with arrears, but the revised program now includes them, enabling a broader range of members to benefit. Qualified borrowers may recover payments made on their GSIS loans from December 2025 to May 2026, expanding from the previous program that covered only up to February 2026.
The program covers a variety of GSIS loans, such as Ginhawa Lite, Ginhawa Flex, Ginhawa Max, Emergency Loan, Digital Ginhawa Loan, Housing Loan, and Policy Loan. However, the GSIS Solar Energy Loan and the GSIS Bicycle and E-Mobility Loan are not included in this benefit.
To be eligible for the refund, the borrower must have an active loan that is not fully paid, not due and demandable, and must have made payments during the covered months. The refund is expected to offer immediate financial relief to members and pensioners. Andres provided an example where a borrower paying PHP20,000 monthly from December 2025 to May 2026 could receive a PHP120,000 refund once the application is approved.
The application process is streamlined through the GSIS Touch app, eliminating the need for agency authorized officer involvement, which Andres said accelerates the refund process. He noted that, in some cases, borrowers have received their refunds on the same day of application, with the worst-case scenario being a wait of three banking days.
The Balik Ginhawa 2 program is set to run until October 31. As of Sunday, Andres reported that 306,022 members and pensioners had already availed of the program, encompassing 728,000 individual loan accounts and resulting in PHP5.2 billion in refunds. He emphasized that the fully digital process aligns with GSIS' commitment to the government's digital transformation agenda, with 99.6 percent of the agency's transactions now conducted digitally.
