FILE PHOTO: Members of Armed Forces of the Philippines on parade. (Photoville International)
MANILA, Philippines — On the talk show Get It Straight With Daniel Razon a group of retired soldiers from the Conference Assembly For Unity And Solidarity Associations In The Armed Forces & Police Retirees, Veterance Pensioners, Inc. (CAUSA-AFPRVPI), called the attention of the government to clear the backlog of their unpaid pension which has already reached more than P18-billion.
“In behalf of 123,000 AFP pensioners worldwide, sana naman po ang iyong puso ay lumambot at wag na pong patagalin,” appealed Ret. Lt. Col. Buenaventura Aguilar, Jr., secretary general of CAUSA-AFPRVPI.
(In behalf of 123,000 AFP pensioners worldwide, we hope you can find it in your heart not to drag this out any longer.)
The group said, these arrearages from their pension have accumulated from year 2000 to 2012.
The retired soldiers cited, Section 17 of the Presidential Decree 1638 which states that when the basic pay of the active personnel increases, so do the benefits of the retirees.
Stated in the April 6, 2015 ruling of the Commission on Audit or COA, the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines should produce the alpha list o master list of the AFP retirees, pensioners and beneficiaries.
The agency said the whole amount should be included in the budget proposal for next year in order to distribute it to the retirees. But after 6 months, there’s still no clear direction on COA’s decision.
More than 120 thousand pensioners will benefit from this pension claims. They are asking government to fast track the process because most of them need medical attention and have dependents.
“Sixty [retirees] ang namamatay every month sa libingan ng bayani lang yan,” said Ret. Ltcol. Aguilar in response to host Daniel Razon’s comment that some retirees have already died waiting for their pending pensions. (Sixty [retirees] die every month at the Heroes’ Cemetery alone.)
UNTV news is still waiting for the concerned agencies’ side of the story regarding this issue. (UNTV News)
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