March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29
30
31
News Every Day |

Marcos agrees to reduce military pension, make soldiers pay for it – Diokno

MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is “willing to spend his political capital” on a long-running proposal to stop the continued increase in military and uniformed personnel’s pension and make active duty military and unformed personnel contribute to a pension system, said Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Diokno made the announcement on Tuesday, March 28, following a meeting in Malacañang between Marcos and his economic team.

The current set-up in the Philippines is that the pensions of retired military and uniformed personnel (MUP) are fully funded by the national government.

MUP refers to personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Public Safety College, the Bureau of Corrections, and the Philippine National Police.

Uniformed personnel on active duty do not contribute to the pension fund, and pensions are “indexed” to the salary of a person of the same rank, which means retired uniformed personnel get the current salary befitting their rank upon retirement.

Finance chiefs in previous administrations have warned that this spelled disaster. When salaries are adjusted for those currently serving, their pensions increase, too. Uniformed personnel are able to retire after 20 years of service, and are rewarded the person of a person one rank higher.

“So pension can be received after 20 years of service with no minimum pensionable age. Some of them they get recruited at the age of 20, so they can already retire at the age of 40, and you know how long their lives are. Military people live longer than us, some at the age of 90. So they retire at 40, they get their pension up to age 90, isn’t that ridiculous?” said Diokno.

“If this goes on there will be a fiscal collapse,” he added. Diokno has long been pushing for reform in the pension system of MUP. As budget chief of former president Rodrigo Duterte, he also recommended the suspension of pension indexing to new rates.

According to Diokno, the Marcos administration is proposing the following changes, several of which have been proposed in previous administrations:

  • The new policy will cover all active personnel and new entrants, meaning mandatory contributions begin with those currently or about to enter service.
  • It will seek the removal of automatic indexation of pension to the salary of active personnel of similar ranks. This means pensions will no longer increase according to the salary increases of active personnel.
  • Military uniformed personnel will receive their pensions at the age of 57. The current policy allows them to receive their pensions at 56, the mandatory retirement age.
  • Mandatory contributions will be required for active personnel and new entrants, similar to the pension fund for government employees, the Government Service Insurance System. The percentage of the mandatory contribution will be staggered over a uniformed personnel’s years of service – from 5% in their first three years, to eventually 9% of their salary.
Previous attempts

“I told the President your predecessors have decided to kick the can down the road. They won’t want to address this. I usually call this the elephant in the room. Nobody would like to touch it, and they simply ignore it,” said Diokno.

Neither the proposal nor the push are new.

There were talks to introduce temporary reforms to the pension system under Duterte, but those proposals fell through, partly through lobbying from former military personnel who are pensioners themselves – officials who held key posts in politics and governance.

Tensions were heightened in late 2018, in the lead-up to the passage and signing of a joint resolution that led to a dramatic increase of soldier and cops’ base pay. The lobby to make automatic indexing continue – so that pensioners would enjoy the same new, higher salaries – won in the end, with Duterte’s “complete turnaround” in setting aside the push to postpone it for at least a year.

Duterte’s finance chief then, Carlos Dominguez III, announced in 2018 that Duterte had approved guidelines for creating a GSIS unit that would manage a proposed pension fund for military personnel.

Aquino’s efforts

Attempts were made to reform the pension system under the administration of the late president Benigno Aquino III. Back in 2011, then budget chief Butch Abad warned that a “crisis looms in the military pension system” because by 2016, or by the end of the Aquino admin, pension spending would outpace spending for the salaries of those actively in service.

The budget department and the GSIS then conducted an actuarial study to figure out a sustainable version of the military pension system.

In his last State of the Nation Address, the late Aquino pushed for the passage of the Unified Uniformed Personnel Pension Reform Bill.

More than a decade later, Diokno describes the unchanged pension system as “not sustainable.” The Finance Secretary said that the government currently spends more for military and police pensions than it does on the operating and maintenance expenditures of the Armed Forces.

What makes this push different from previous attempts? Diokno, who also served under the previous Duterte administration, pointed to Marcos’ 2022 electoral win.

“Remember that he is the first president to be elected by a significant majority… he really has very strong support and he’s willing to spend his political capital for this because nakikita niya if hindi niya ginawa ito (he sees that if he does not do this), there will be fiscal collapse in the future,” he said.

Diokno also pointed to the current dynamics in the legislature, in which a supermajority in both chambers are allied with Marcos. “Mr Marcos also has very strong control over Congress so it’s going to be less problematic for him to push forward such a major reform,” said Diokno.

The last president Diokno served also enjoyed majority support in both chambers of Congress. – Rappler.com

Москва

Правительство России направило дополнительно 1 млрд рублей на программу промышленной ипотеки

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Ria.city






Read also

Cyprus state budget deficit rose by €80 million in 2023

Chargers sign cornerback Kristian Fulton to 1-year deal

Joyce Edwards named 2023-24 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s



Sports today


Новости тенниса
WTA

Виктория Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

GeekVape в сотрудничестве с Absolute Racing выиграла чемпионат в категории GT3



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»


Новости России

Game News

Cyberpunk 2077 станет временно бесплатной для PlayStation и Xbox


Russian.city


Архангельск

В Архангельске состоится II Межрегиональный симпозиум «Региональные аспекты рыбного хозяйства»


Губернаторы России
Владимир Путин

Путин назвал культуру духовным каркасом народа в трагические для страны моменты


Школьники встретились с военным летчиком в Музее Победы

Заказать недорогой ремонт кухонной мебели в районе в Москве и Московской области

Metaratings: "Спартак" может уволить Абаскаля по ходу сезона, клуб ищет тренера

Судья соревнований в Crocus Expo подала в суд из-за травли после теракта


Джиган раскрыл свой вес и описал причину похудения словами «надоело быть жирным»

Николай Цискаридзе: «Балет не для всех является смыслом жизни, как для меня»

А надо было ласково? Тимати после слов о "ребятах"-террористах ответили по-мужски

“Настя — не из дешёвых женщин”, – У Волочковой появился молодой ухажёр с серьёзными намерениями


Хачанов победил Черундоло и пробился в 1/8 финала турнира ATP в Майами

Рыбакина, наряду со Свёнтек, имеет 70% побед на WTA-1000 против соперниц из топ-10

Рыбакина о том, что не играла в Индиан-Уэллс из-за болезни: «К сожалению, восстановление заняло много времени»

Теннисист Медведев вышел в полуфинал турнира в Майами, обыграв Харри



Рынок вторичной недвижимости Крыма: цены растут, а спрос?

МЧС предупредило о рисках подтоплений в 47 регионах России

Топливному компромиссу между Украиной и Азербайджаном пришел конец?

«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»


АИРР на Стартап-туре 2024

Зампред Мосгордумы Андрей Медведев призвал привлечь к ответственности азербайджанского миллиардера, владельца «Крокуса» Араза Агаларова

Чемпионат по зимнему плаванию пройдет в Пскове

Metaratings: "Спартак" может уволить Абаскаля по ходу сезона, клуб ищет тренера


В Подмосковье пьяная женщина устроила массовое ДТП с участием восьми машин

В ЦФО объем выдач ипотеки вырос в два раза

Правительство России направило дополнительно 1 млрд рублей на программу промышленной ипотеки

ЦППК назначит компенсационные автобусы по будням в апреле



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Диана Арбенина

Певица Диана Арбенина опубликовала редкое фото сына



News Every Day

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости