MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday appealed to President Aquino to include retired members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and other uniformed services in the proposed Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 4.
Trillanes, a vice presidential candidate in the May elections, said he made the appeal because he expects Malacañang to oppose the inclusion of the retired members of uniformed services in the SSL 4, which could delay the law’s implementation and will affect other government employees.
Trillanes is the principal author and sponsor of Senate Bill No. 2671 or the proposed SSL 4.
Under his original bill sponsored in the Senate, the pension levels of retirees will increase along with the increase in salaries of other government workers, consistent with Presidential Decree 1638 and Republic Act No. 8551.
But in the version of Malacañang, the provision for indexation of military pension was suspended due to severe budgetary constraints, according to the Department of Budget and Management.
Congress was not able to approve the bill before session adjourned last December because the Senate version included the pensioners in the planned salary adjustment, while the House of Representatives decided to adopt the Malacañang version excluding them.
In the P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016, P57.9 billion was included for the implementation of the first tranche of the SSL 4.
An additional P9 billion would be needed for the indexation of military and police retirees in the first year of implementation.
“We believe that the retirees of the AFP, PNP and other uniformed services have earned it. They have risked their lives just to keep us safe and to let us enjoy the fruits and blessings of democracy. So we believe that they deserve this indexation,” Trillanes said.
“These military and police retirees are now in the twilight of their lives. The government should show a little compassion, if not gratitude, owing to the sacrifices they and their families have given over the years. I hope that Malacañang could see this issue in this light because the lives and welfare of our retirees are beyond any alleged budgetary constraint,” he added.