Senatorial aspirant and Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero said the government must be able to address the government’s ballooning liabilities to pensioners in the military and uniformed services through a sustainable pension system.
The veteran legislator also pointed out it is the government’s obligation to give the retirees what is due them as stipulated in the law in recognition of their services to the country and the Filipino people.
“Obligasyon ng pamahalaan ang pagbibigay ng buwanang pension kasama na ang karagdagang halaga dahil ipinangako natin iyan sa ating mga kasundaluhan at sa ating uniformed personnel. Bagamat napakalaking burden iyan dahil sa mahabang panahon ay iyan ay nanggagaling sa taunang budget, marapat pa rin na makahanap tayo ng paraan upang tupadin ang ipinangako,” he stressed.
According to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the MUP pension system currently has a Php9.6-trillion unfunded reserve deficit, and it needs annually a total of Php848.39 billion to sustain it for the next 20 years based on the existing scheme.
“Sa mahabang panahon, iyan ay nanggagaling sa taunang budget. Hindi tulad ng mga civilian employees na nanggagaling sa GSIS kung saan ay may sapat na actuarial studies, kung saan hindi kada taon na kailangang bumunot ng pamahalaan mula sa national budget upang pambayad ng pension katulad ng mga nagretirong kasundaluhan natin,” the former senator said.
“Matagal na naming sinsubukan na isaayos iyan pero bago namin naisaayos iyan, pinataasan pa ni Pangulong Duterte muli ang suweldo ng ating mga kasundaluhan at uniformed personnel na kung saan ay naka-base diyan iyong pensyon ng mga retirado,” Escudero said, recalling the congressional intervention made when he was still a senator. The legislator is again running for senator in the May 2022 Election.
Under the current scheme, MUPs are not also required to pay mandatory contributions for their pension unlike civilian government employees as it is being subsidized by the government through the annual appropriations in the national budget. Civilian government employees have to contribute monthly to the GSIS, the state pension fund.
Last year, the DND has appealed to retired military and uniformed personnel for patience and understanding due to the delay in the release of their 2018 pension differentials as government resources were focused toward fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aside from the military, uniformed personnel also include the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.
At present, lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives have filed their separate versions of the MUP pension reform bill.
President Rodrigo Duterte made the MUP pension reform bill a priority, saying it should be pursued “in view of the ballooning budget burden where the total cost of the pensions of retired soldiers will exceed the compensation of those in active service.”