Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday thanked President Rodrigo Duterte, on behalf of 220,000 military and uniformed personnel retirees, after the Department of Budget and Management finally cleared the way for the hike in their pension amounting to almost P55 million.
Lacson, a member of Philippine Military Academy Class 1971, cited Duterte for signing Joint Resolution 1, which provides for the increase.
“On behalf of the 220,000 MUP retirees, let me say a lifetime ‘Thank You’ to PRRD for Joint Resolution No 1,” said Lacson.
He noted that no other President except Duterte had 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,” he said on his Twitter account.
Joint Resolution 1 authorizes an increase in the base pay of military and other uniformed personnel in government.
Earlier this week, the Department of Budget and Management released the pension requirements of retired MUP under the Armed Forces of the Philippines-General Headquarters, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
The DBM said it released P29.9 billion to the AFP-GHQ, P21.7 billion to the PNP, P1.9 billion to the BFP, and around P731 million to the BJMP.
It added 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.
“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.
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.
Also, 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.