THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers called on the Government Service Insurance System to cancel the interest on GSIS loans accrued during the months of enhanced community quarantine last year saying it is “questionable and unjust.”

The group said that teachers learned of the loan interest when the ECQ was lifted.

“Nagulat ang mga guro na pagkatapos pala magkaroon ng moratorium sa pagbabayad ng utang noong ECQ ay bigla silang sisingilin ng interes sa utang para sa mga buwan ng Abril, Mayo, at Hunyo noong 2020,” ACT said.

“Malaking kaltas ito sa kanilang suweldo sa gitna ng pandemya, at hindi ito makatarungan dahil extended na nga ng 3 buwan ang utang nila at magbabayad din sila ng interes sa 3 buwan na extension,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

Basilio called on the GSIS leadership to heed their request for a dialogue to listen to the complaint of teachers.

GSIS has yet to respond to ACT’s letter dated April 19, justifying its call for the writing off of the loans’ interest.

The group also wrote a similar letter to the Bangko Sentral of Pilipinas in July 2020, asking for a halt in the collection of accrued interests because it violates the Bayanihan Law 1.

Basilio said that the collecting accrued interest was “unfair and counterintuitive as it defeats the purpose of bringing relief to borrowers who were suffering enough under the pandemic and the economic crisis.”

“Habang nag-aabono ang mga guro sa laptop, internet, modules at mas mataas na konsumo sa koryente, sumabay pa itong accrued interest na lalong nagpaliit sa kanilang take home pay gayong napakaliit na nga ng kanilang sweldo,” he lamented.