CAMP TECSON, Bulacan—President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to study the possibility of leasing properties in military camps to fund a separate pension system for the military.
“Here’s my proposal. My suggestion now is, Del, you form a committee of two, kasi sa akin ‘yang—gobyernong ‘to, then you get one from the private sector na ‘yang marunong about investment,” the President said in speech during the groundbreaking of a government housing program for soldiers and cops here.
“Sa inyo na ‘yan. Wala nang pakialam ang national government diyan. Palaguin ninyo ‘yan at okay na kayo,” he added.
Instead of asking for incremental increases and additional bonuses, Duterte said that the military could instead form a new pension system “separate” from the Government Service Insurance System to fund the necessary modernization upgrades for the military.
“You can buy the arms that you want, probably not in many—so many quantities. Diyan na ‘yung kunin ninyo ‘yung lahat, pang-education,” he added.
Among those that could be developed is the Fort Bonifacio property in Taguig currently occupied by the Philippine Army, which has a current market value of more than one million per square meter, Duterte said.
In a separate interview, Lorenzana said that an apparent transfer of the Armed Forces’ major service commands—including the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force to Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo could commence within “two years” to utilize the properties for commercial development.
“We’ll fix the mechanism to have a lease agreement with real estate companies, big companies like SM, Ayala, or Megaworld,” Lorenzana sadi.
“The GHQ [General Headquarters] is huge, it’s about 137 hectares and it accommodate all [service] commands so we could utilize the to-be vacated properties,” he said. “With this, we’ll have a steady stream of finances for modernization and pension funds.”