Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday appealed to retired military and police personnel not to rush the government in the release of their pensions as the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.
A P172.9-billion fund was originally allotted for the Pension and Gratuity Fund (PGF) for retired uniformed personnel under the 2021 General Appropriations Act, but the budget was slashed by P20 billion to boost the country's fund for COVID-19 vaccines, Lorenzana told reporters in a chance interview at the House of Representatives.
"The government is not backing away from its obligation at tulong lang natin sa gobyerno na huwag muna natin silang pilitin na hindi kaya," Lorenzana said.
(The government is not backing away from its obligation and we should just help our government by not forcing them to release it at a time they could not.)
"Kung pwede lang po sana ay maghintay lang tayo ng konting panahon dahil ‘yung pera, kinain ng COVID at marami tayong pagkakagastusan dito. Bibili pa tayo ng vaccines, so baka hindi kayanin," he said.
(I hope we can wait for a while because the fund was used for COVID and other related expenses. We still have to buy vaccines so we might not be able to release it immediately.)
"There’s no harm done" with the delayed release of the 2018 pension differentials to retired military and police personnel, the defense chief said.
"Dinoble naman ang pension ninyo since 2018... So palagay ko, hindi kayo mahihirapan," he said.
(Your pension was doubled since 2018... So I think you will not suffer much.)
"Kung hindi niyo makuha 'yung arrears niyo na 4 months ay maghihirap kayo? Hindi naman siguro, kasi hindi naman tumigil ang pension niyo, hindi naman nababawasan," he said.
(Will you fall into poverty if you can't claim your arrears for 4 months? I don't think so because your pension was neither cancelled nor reduced.)
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, former chief of the Philippine National Police, said the fund for their retirement benefits have always been enough in the past 8 years.
"Sapat at kadalasan ay sobra pa ang pondo para sa mga benepisyo ng ating mga retiradong pulis, sundalo at other uniformed services," Lacson said in a statement.
(Most of the time, the fund for the benefits of our retired policemen, soliders and other uniformed services are enough, if not more than sufficient.)
Between 2014 and 2019, the unspent sum from the uniformed personnel's pension and gratuity fund totaled P110.24 billion, according to data from the senator's office.
The national government has yet to disburse the P116.19 billion and P152.89 billion allocations for 2020 and 2021, respectively, data showed.
Lacson called on retired uniformed personnel to get in touch with his office if they failed to receive their pension benefits.
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