Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on Tuesday took up the cudgels for retired Department of Foreign Affairs career officials, pushing for an increase in their monthly pension and disability benefits in return for their long years of looking after the welfare of Filipinos and the interests of the Philippines abroad.
In filing Senate Bill 2347, Lacson lamented that some of the DFA retirees were receiving a measly pension despite long years of service at the front lines of Philippine foreign relations.
At times, they risked their lives under dangerous conditions in their countries of assignment, Lacson said.
While in active service, he said, diplomats have demonstrated their resilience as the Philippines’ first line of representation in dealing with a plethora of concerns.
Lacson’s bill aims to provide both present and future retirees of the foreign service “support that is adequate and responsive to their needs, and to reassure them that their dedication and loyalty to the Filipino people is not forgotten.”
Lacson, who chairs the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Commission on Appointments, made the call for better benefits after meeting recently with retired Ambassador Raul Hernandez, now the Assistant Secretary of the DFA’s Department Legislative Liaison Unit.
Senate Bill 2347 applies to retired officers or employees of the DFA who have served the DFA for at least 15 years and are eligible to receive monthly pensions from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
Under the bill, the monthly pension benefits of all retirees of the DFA as provided under Republic Act 7157 shall be automatically adjusted at the same rate as any future or subsequent increase in the salary grade of the same rank he or she retired from.