President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday ordered the release of P4.7 billion pension funds to the war veterans and retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and to the widows of those who died in service.
The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office said the amount of unsettled AFP pensions had reached P17.53 billion by August 2015.
“For those who were not paid by the previous administrations, we are releasing the total administrative disability (TAD) pension of World War II veterans and retirees 80 years old and above. The amount was included in the 2016 budget but was not released by [former President Benigno] Aquino,” Duterte told war veterans at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig.
Aside from the pension, P3.5 billion more are allotted to the widows and more than P 1.2 billion to AFP retirees.
Spouses of deceased World War II veterans aged 80 and above, meanwhile, are entitled to P2.72 billion in TAD benefits, while a second priority group that includes living veterans aged 80 and above still await P1.81 billion.
The spouses of war veterans aged 79 and below who constitute the third priority group will receive P850 million TAD benefits.
Duterte stressed that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the utilization of the said fund has been signed by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
In an interview with the Manila Standard, Lorenzana said the budget for the pension was signed during the past administration, “but Aquino failed to release it because of the election ban.”
The President also announced that P250,000 sourced from the President’s Social Fund is available to the beneficiaries of battle casualties, while another P20,000 will be released to war veterans and their families as ready cash assistance.
A total of 83,346 World War II and post-war veterans and their spouses are entitled to the pension system under Republic Act 7696 enacted in 1994, wherein a veteran, with or without a service-connected or non-service connected disability, upon reaching the age of 70, is deemed totally disabled and shall be entitled to a monthly pension of P1,700.
