Happy Labor Day!
You may have been working for years, diligently paying your government contributions, but wondering if you will ever be able to make use of them before you retire.
The good news is, there are actually some you can already avail of.
PhilHealth YAKAP (Yaman ng Kalusugan Program)
A lot of people were skeptical about this benefit but I can tell you from personal experience that this is not a scam.
The program was officially launched in July 2025 (rebranding the previous PhilHealth Konsulta). YAKAP provides basic checkup, screening, labs, and Php20,000 worth of free medicines annually—and is open to everyone. You can avail of this benefit whether or not you have your own HMO coverage. This is especially useful if you are on maintenance medication, or if you don’t have an HMO and you need a check-up.
Similar to the previous section, the procedures will be in the official website https://www.philhealth.gov.ph/yakap/, and we will only discuss tips.
The first step is to register to the program, and select your YAKAP clinic. As of 2026, PhilHealth has tied up with nearly 4,000 clinics nationwide to provide this benefit. Below are tips to take into consideration when you select a location.
Tips:
1) Convenience of Location
Make a shortlist first of convenient locations before selecting and registering, because there will be a warning on the website that once you register, you will not be able to change the clinic until the end of the year.
Clinic location is important because the clinic will only release medicines good for 30 days, so pick a location you will be able to visit monthly.
2) Clinic Reachability
Contact the clinic first prior to registration. The reason is that they may already be listed in the PhilHealth website, however their YAKAP clinic is not yet operational. Also, some clinics will not respond at all, which will be a real hassle as you will not have a way to know if your prescribed medicines are available or not until you go to the clinic.
Flexing some more of the free medicines I was able to score during one of my visits:
SSS (Social Security System) Unemployment Benefit
The SSS unemployment benefit is something you can avail of when you are involuntarily separated from your work. Ie, your company shuts down, or includes you in a retrenchment or redundancy program – and yes, those are different things which we will talk about in a bit.
If you were recently involuntarily separated, this is for you. You will be prompted to create an online SSS account to facilitate your application. You will see the complete details of the steps in the SSS website in this link, under the “How to Apply” tab, and complete eligibility requirements under the “Eligibility Requirements” tab, so we will only talk about tips here.
Below are some reminders when applying for this benefit.
Tips:
1) Eligibility
Prior approval, your company HR has to confirm with SSS that it was an involuntary separation, hence voluntary resignations will not be considered for the benefit.
2) Involuntary Separation Reason
Select the correct option in the “Involuntary Separation Reason”
Besides company shutdown, the other two options may cause confusion, so here is an explanation. If in doubt, you can always ask your Company HR.
a)Retrenchment means that the company simply reduced personnel.
b)Redundancy is when a company reorganizes due to shifting business needs, and your role is impacted – let’s say, the project you are assigned to will be discontinued, or you are doing manual data entry when the company decided to implement automations to manage these activities.
3) Documents
Ensure to keep a copy of the notice of involuntary separation that you receive from the company, because this will be required by DOLE. After HR confirms the application in the website, you will need to upload the SSS transaction number in the below notice, as well as the notice of involuntary separation into https://ncr.dole.gov.ph/, within 30 days.
4) Maximum Benefit
The maximum unemployment benefit you will receive is 50% of your 2 months’ salary, capped at ₱10,000 per month, or ₱20,000.
There will be deductions to the benefit if you were able to secure employment within the two-month period as the benefit covers 2 months of unemployment. There may also be minor deductions to the benefit in the case of overlapping benefits, or complaints filed against the company, etc.
5) Timelines
You can apply for this benefit any time within 1 year from the date of your involuntary separation. This benefit can be availed of every three years as long as there is an involuntary separation that occurred.
Sharing the completion notice I received for the disbursement:
Pag-IBIG Home Development Fund Loan or Savings Withdrawal
The PagIBIG (PagtutulungansaKinabukasan: Ikaw, Bangko, Industriya at Gobyerno) Home Development Fund is well-known for loans but is also a good platform for investments. Now, you can definitely loan to tide you over until your next source of income, but another thing you can do, if you don’t have plans to take out a housing loan under PagIBIG— some members opt to withdraw their mandatory savings.
No need to wait until retirement age to withdraw your PAGIBIG savings.
Below are the qualifications if you would like to claim your regular savings early.
If you have remitted:
- Total 240 monthly savings:
- You qualify for Regular Savings Claim – Maturity.
- Continuous 180 monthly savings:
- You qualify for Regular Savings – Optional Withdrawal.
The procedure and requirements are in this link:
Creating an online account can be done online and accessed through the website, Virtual PagIBIG app, or Hello PagIBIG app. The requirements are simple, too, just your Pag-IBIG card, a valid ID, and an accomplished Application for Provident Benefits (APB) Claim Form.
This is just a last resort, and if you don’t need a cash, it’s better to leave your money invested. PagIBIG is a good investment platform as mentioned, because it has very competitive dividend rates (refer to below for the Regular Savings dividend rate last 2025).
These are the government benefits I was able to either avail of or discover during my own stretch of unemployment, I do hope these help.
If you know of more, please do share it in the comment section to help our community out. You can also get in touch with us at: connect@lowkeywellness.com.
We’d love to hear from you!
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