Gov't still owes war vets P17 B worth of disability benefits

MANILA, Philippines - The government still owes more than P17 billion worth of disability benefits to about 83,000 veterans and their dependents.

The amount of unsettled total administrative disability (TAD) pension has reached P17.53 billion as of August 14, data from the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) showed.

A total of 83,346 World War II and post-war veterans and their spouses are entitled to the pension.

Spouses of deceased World War II veterans aged 80 and above are entitled to P2.72 billion worth of TAD benefits. There are 16,237 pensioners who belong to the group, the top priority in the payment of pension arrears.

The second priority group are the 5,696 living post-war veterans aged 80 and above. The government still owes P1.81 billion to the group.

Spouses of war veterans aged 79 and below constitute the third priority group and number 4,934. They are entitled to P850 million worth of TAD benefits.

The unpaid TAD benefits to living post-war veterans aged 70 to 79 totaled P712 million. A total of 9,899 beneficiaries belong to the category, the fourth priority in the giving of pension.

The fifth priority consists of dependents of deceased veterans with no surviving spouse. The 46,580 beneficiaries who belong to the category are entitled to P11.44 billion worth of TAD pension.

“We do not want to blame anybody for this. We just want the truth to come out, just the facts,” PVAO Administrator Ernesto Carolina said in a statement.

“The truth is we still owe something to 16,000 souls, 80 years old and above, spouses of those who fought during the war,” he added.

Under Republic Act 7696 enacted in 1994, 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.

However, the gap between the law’s passage in 1994 and the government’s payment of TAD pension in 2010 resulted in unpaid pension obligations worth P25 billion. The unpaid amount continues to accumulate because of lack of funds.

The government paid TAD pension arrears worth P4.1 billion to 28,993 living war veterans from 2003 to 2009 after PVAO implemented a drive against unqualified pensioners.

In September 2013, the government settled outstanding TAD pension arrears to living war veterans amounting to P2.9 billion, bringing the total payment to P6.9 billion. 

However, war veterans who died before the government started paying TAD pension in 2010 did not receive the pension, leaving accumulated benefits that they should have received had this benefit been paid on time.

The PVAO has recommended to President Benigno Aquino III that the government immediately pay the TAD pension to surviving spouses aged 80 and above. An additional P2.7 billion will be needed to settle the arrears.