Taking care of veterans, be it in the military or police, differs from country to country. Some countries take care of their veterans very well while others do a poor job at it.
One country that takes care of veterans very well is the United States. The retirement package of veterans there is sufficient to take care of their needs and pensions are indexed to inflation. In addition, their children get to go to college free and their medical needs are taken care of by government no matter where they live. This is because there is a veteran’s hospital located in every state.
I have a friend who served three years in the Coast Guard but since he has a medical condition, his medical treatment is taken care of by the government including a free kidney transplant which he had more than a year ago. His eldest kid just entered college free and he receives a disability pension of more than $5,000 a month.
We cannot find anything resembling that kind of service in this country. The lobby of veterans in the US is also so strong that any politician that would just think of curtailing existing benefits would be gone in the next election.
South Korea also has a good retirement package for veterans because they try to follow closely the American system.
Some European countries like the United Kingdom and France also have a history of treating the veterans well. The Hotel Invalides in the middle of Paris used to be where disabled and wounded French veterans were housed during the time of the French monarchy. The building is basically empty now. France, however, had a problem with its World War II veterans from its colonies. They were treated like second class citizens like Filipino US veterans who fought for the US during World War 2. Pensions were given but only at a fraction of their US and French counterparts. Filipino veterans were just awarded the Congressional Medal of Freedom but there are so few of them left to see it happen because the vast majority of veterans are now dead. Better late than never one might say, but it is also an indication of how we as an ally have been treated all these years.
How does our country compare to those more advanced countries in the treatment of veterans? Not very well I am afraid.
The only thing going for veterans in this country was that every time active serving personnel receive salary increases, so does the retired component. Now, even this will be gone. The pending doubling of basic salaries for active serving uniformed personnel will not include the retirees. The last administration when it increased the basic pay classified the increase as allowances simply to exclude veterans. But the move of the current administration is to double the basic salaries of our uniformed personnel and will clearly not include the retirees.
Whether this can be done without amending previous laws is another matter and I hope a class action suit by all veterans could be brought to the Supreme Court to challenge the impending government action.
Budget Secretary Diokno is the mouthpiece of those who are saying that the government will not be able to afford such a huge increase if the retirees are included. The staggering amount of anywhere between 4 to 6 trillion pesos is being mentioned which will allegedly bankrupt the country in the long run. We do not know where this figure came from or whether it is accurate. It is their duty to publish the study if there was one and not keep it to themselves. Looking at this impending basic salary increase, we must ask why the increase has to be 100 percent if the country cannot afford it. Is it only because the President said so? Why not convince or advise the President to simply increase the basic salary by say 33 percent so that even the retirees can also included. An increase of 33 percent in basic pay is already huge not to mention the allowances that active personnel are already receiving. It is better to increase the basic pay gradually rather than in one single stroke. All the retirees cannot just be completely excluded. After all, they have also given the best years of their lives fighting for the country.
And why exclude all veterans? Why not include the elderly pensioners who are 65 years old or older? This is the segment of veterans who are hard up and struggling to survive decently and can no longer work. In spite of government figures of low inflation, prices have gone up a lot higher most specially in medicines and food. Those who are 56 to 65 years old can at least still work and perhaps wait a little longer.
A blanket exclusion of all retirees is utterly heartless and unfair. These actuarial studies that Secretary Diokno used are not conclusive and there are alternatives. We have a number of former military and police officers in Congress. In fact, there are three in the Senate. Senators Honasan, Lacson and Trillanes. These gentlemen can team up with the uniformed retirees in the House to try to come up with an alternative plan so as not to exclude the retirees in this next round of salary increases. Any increase would be good for the veterans. Maybe these Congressional members who used to wear a uniform may not need the pension increases but the vast majority of their fellow retirees who are trying to make both ends meet, need their help.