President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he wants a self-regenerating pension plan for both the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
“We’re working hard on making sure that we have a pension plan both for the AFP and for the police,” Mr. Marcos told reporters in a interview during the presentation of the 160-megawatt wind farm in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte on Friday.
The President said he wanted both the AFP and the PNP to have a self-sustaining pension plan to avoid a scenario where there will be no more funds intended for their benefits.
Mr. Marcos said these funds could start to shrink in five to six years as the government continues to re-evaluate the pension system for the military and police to avert a possible fiscal collapse.
“So even before that happens, we are taking preemptive steps. We are designing a better system,” he said.
Earlier, Defense Acting Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. has appealed to the senators to consider the morale and welfare of the troops in tackling the proposed new pension system for the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) retirees.
“In fact, the President also gave an instruction that he is very much concerned about the impact of this on the morale and welfare of the army personnel and policemen, and he wanted that there should be a continuous discussion to have a common ground,” Galvez said.
In the proposed new MUP pension system, retirees will receive 18 months’ worth of their salaries which is only one-half of the current system that provides a lump sum of 36 months of their salaries.
Galvez asserted that 70 to 80 percent of the enlisted personnel were eyeing early retirement to avail themselves of the current pension system.
“We should really look at the middle ground so that we can see that
the morale and welfare of our people will be taken care of,” Galvez.
Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it supports the passage of the MUP pension reform, but stressed that it should only be applied to new members of the police force.
