THE House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Welfare has endorsed for plenary approval a measure increasing the pension of veterans to P10,000 from P5,000 a month.
Liberal Party Rep. Herminia B. Roman of Bataan, author of House Bill (HB) 6230, said that a veteran who is at least 65 years of age shall be paid an old-age pension of P10,000 monthly for life, unless he is actually receiving a similar pension for the same consideration from other government funds.
HB 6230 seeks to amend Section 10 of Republic Act 6948, otherwise known as An Act Standardizing and Upgrading the Benefits of Military Veterans and Their Dependents, as amended.
Roman, chairman of the Committee on Veterans Affairs and Welfare, said the current pension of P5,000 enacted almost 21 years ago is clearly not enough to meet the basic necessities of veterans for decent living.
“Our veterans have sacrificed so much for the country. They invested blood, sweat and tears and, in return, it is only fitting that we repay their service by taking care of them in their old age. They have dedicated their lives in the service of the country. They should be able to live out the rest of their days comfortably without worrying about their basic needs,” Roman said.
Roman added the old-age pension raise is also a way to show the nation’s grateful appreciation of the veterans’ bravery, service and sacrifice.
Rolando Villaflor, chief legal officer of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (Pvao) and representative of Pvao Administrator Ernesto Carolina, said the proposal to raise the old-age pension of veterans is not only urgent but “it proceeds from a very compelling reason that it is based on justice, considering the steady decline in the number of our senior veterans due to advanced age.”
Villaflor said the youngest veteran under this category is 84 while the oldest is aged 105.
“As of June, there are only about 12,730 senior veterans who stand to benefit from the proposed increase,” Villaflor said.
He added that the old-age pension will require a funding of P1.9 billion in 2016, and will gradually diminish annually with a projected number of about 4,211 senior veterans in 2020, or the equivalent of P757.980 million.
Villaflor said that as to post-World War II veterans, there are 27,137 of them as of this November, saying the corresponding amount of increase in their old-age pension to P10,000 will require P1.628 billion.