The exclusion of veterans in the new salary standardization law has left military and police retirees understandably angry and embittered.
When I first heard the news that there was going to be an increase of the salaries of government workers, I was ecstatic. For one, it would mean that the pension of retirees like me from the uniformed services, whose value has been eroding over the last few years due to inflation, would also increase. Those who are advancing in years understand this very well. The ravages of time take their toll more on the senior citizens than the younger and stronger ones who are still able to work. It stands to reason therefore, that any increase in pension is most welcome to veterans to help them in paying for medical bills which are growing as one grows older.
Then I found out to my dismay that the salary standardization law will only be for those still currently working. With one stroke of pen, this law will consign all the veterans to a life of constant struggle just to make both ends meet. As things already currently stand, the treatment of veterans in this country leaves much to be desired. Unlike in many countries where veterans’ affairs are department levels, here, it is only a bureau under the Department of Defense. This shows the low level of priority that the government gives to veterans.
Indeed, about 26 months of differential pension increases have not yet been paid to the veterans by this administration. Since the passage of Commonwealth Act One in 1935, uniformed retirees have always counted on pension increases every time their active colleagues get salary increases. This would be the first time ever that this will not happen. Maybe the veterans should not really be surprised. The President, after all, as some in the military have been saying, never really liked the military and police because of what happened to his family. He forgets that it was also the same military and police that protected his mother from ouster.
The sudden willingness of this administration to increase the pay of government workers after consistently resisting it is of course blatantly political. It wants to gain votes for the administration presidential candidate who has been languishing in fourth place and does not seem to be making any headway.
I doubt very much that increasing government salaries will make any difference for Mar Roxas. It is too obvious a ploy, and the voters are not that stupid.
Still, the increase is good for government workers because they rightly deserve an increase in pay. What is inexplicable is that the many retired uniformed personnel in both houses of Congress did not seem to have worked hard enough for their retired comrade in arms. There must be more than a half a dozen of them in the house. Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, if I am not mistaken, is even the chairman of the Defense Committee. There are also two senators who once wore uniforms. What did these gentlemen do? From what I was able to gather, it was Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte who both refused the inclusion of uniformed retirees because President Aquino and Secretary Abad wanted them excluded.
These former soldiers in Congress seem to have been swallowed up by the system. They may be congressman and senators and not in need of pension but they should have tried to stand up for their retired friends and comrades. Even those retired personnel occupying senior positions in the executive branch did not seem to have tried hard to lobby for the veterans. It is sad.
So what can the veterans do? Not much, really, because although veterans from all the services are organized into different associations, these veteran groups do not have a strong lobby unlike in the United States. Maybe it is time for veterans to flex their muscles. I do not know exactly the number of veterans but if there are about 250,000 veterans from all the services and multiply that number by ten because of extended families, there would be about 2.5 million voters which could influence the outcome of a national election. Actually, this estimate is conservative because if one includes children, grandchildren, in-laws, relatives and friends, there would be more. Maybe the veterans should pledge to make it their solemn duty not to vote for candidates of the Liberal Party.
This is, after all, the only language that politicians understand and this in essence was what the text (which I received last December 9) of retired Police Director Van Luspo wanted to convey to all uniformed retirees. Van Luspo is the current president of the police retirees association. His message was basically a call to arms and although it is rather long, I would like to quote it verbatim here because it encapsulates the rage and frustration of all the retirees from our uniformed services. “Dapat malaman ng buong AFP, PNP, BJMP, BFP and PCG retirees na si Senator Antonio Trillanes III ang may akda ng batas na nag-alis ng pension increase natin kung ang mga active uniform service o aktibong nasa serbisyong kapulisan at kasundaluan ay may salary increase. Ito ay pinagtibay ng mga Liberal Party congressman at mga senator bilang pagtugon sa kagustuhan ni PNoy at ABAD na kung dadagdagan ang pension ng retiradong kasundaluan at kapulisan dahil malaking pundo ng gobyerno daan ang nawawala at napupunta daw sa prior ng retiradong pulis.”
Simply put, Van Luspo is blaming President Aquino, Secretary Abad and Senator Trillanes who as a former soldier should have been there to help instead of allowing himself to be used.