DBM disburses P54.2B for military, uniformed retirees’ pensions

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released around P54.231 billion for the pension requirements of retired military and uniformed personnel (MUP).

In a statement, the DBM said the funds are for the pensions of retired MUP from the Armed Forces of the Philippines' General Headquarters (AFP-GHQ), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

The amount was broken down into P29.9 billion for the AFP-GHQ, P21.7 billion to the PNP, P1.9 billion to the BFP, and around P731 million to the BJMP.

"The release order for uniformed personnel of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority shall be issued upon its submission of the required Special Budget Request to the DBM," the Budget department said.

The DBM noted that the current base pay scale for MUP is stipulated in Congress Joint Resolution (JR) No. 1, series of 2018, or the “Joint Resolution Authorizing the Increase in Base Pay of Military and Uniformed Personnel in the Government, and for Other Purposes.”

The joint resolution was passed on January 1, 2018 to fulfill President Rodrigo Duterte's promise to increase the base pay of all MUP.

However, the DBM said the indexation of pensions to the current base pay scale was suspended for fiscal year 2018 under the same joint resolution, which directed that “pending the review of the current MUP pension system by the legislative and executive branches of the government... the indexation of the pension of retired MUP with the base pay of those in the active service shall be suspended with respect to the base pay increase authorized in this Joint Resolution.”

The resolution also provided that the suspension shall be automatically lifted on January 1, 2019 or upon the effectivity of a pension reform law, whichever comes earlier.

Accordingly, the recently released amounts already include the adjustment of the pension of the retired MUPs as indexed to the base pay scale of MUP in the active service covering the period June to December 2019 based on the available funds as certified by the Bureau of the Treasury, the DBM said.

In a separate statement, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on Thursday thanked the DBM "on behalf of 220,000 military and uniformed personnel (MUP) retirees."

"On behalf of the 220,000 MUP retirees, let me say a lifetime 'THANK YOU' to PRRD for Joint Resolution No 1. No other President has shown such concern for those who served and offered their lives for country and people. All we have to do is continue breathing for as long as we can," Lacson said.

Lacson had sought to increase the Pension and Gratuity Fund in the 2019 budget by P876.42 million to fund the additional P15,000 increase in old-age pension of 4,869 senior veterans.

He and Senator Gregorio Honasan II co-authored the Senate Joint Resolution authorizing the increase in the base pay of military and uniformed personnel in the government, and for other purposes. The Senate Joint Resolution was approved and signed as Joint Resolution No. 01. — BM, GMA News