Mahalagang maresolba na ang isyu sa Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Pension Fund ayon kay Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda upang mapagtuunan naman ng pamahalaan ang pagpapalakas sa depensa ng bansa.
Ayon kay Salceda, na siya ring chairperson ng Ad Hoc Committee on the MUP Pension System, kung maisasaayos na ang fiscal issues sa pensyon ng mga MUP ay mas mabubuhusan na ng pondo ang pagpapalakas sa depensa ng bansa lalo na sa bahagi ng West Philippine Sea.
“We need to resolve the MUP pension system’s fiscal defects so that we can move forward with devoting more of the national budget to credibly defending the country’s territory. Our expenditures are growing for defense, even as our MUP pension liabilities also grow. That is untenable. We have a solution that inflicts the least pain possible on all stakeholders,” paliwanag ni Salceda.
Punto nito na para sa susunod na taon, tumaas ng 81.8% ang panukalang pondo para sa Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Program kumpara sa 2023 budget.
“You need a credible Navy and Airforce to defense the West Philippine Sea. While land forces received a 9.7 percent increase year-on-year, the air force received a 25.7 percent increase. The Navy received 17.2 percent. The President’s budget gets its defense priorities right… So, we need to solve the MUP Pension System issues so we can keep investing in a formidable national defense,” ani Salceda.
Una nang sinabi ng kongresista na hahanapan nila ng win-win solution ang reporma sa MUP pension.
Ngayong araw ay sasalang sa unang deliberasyon ng Ad Hoc Committee ang nasa 12 panukalang batas na inihain sa Kamara para sa MUP Pension Reform.
“To reiterate, it’s our “Three Guarantees” version. Guaranteed pension hike. Guaranteed salary hike. Guaranteed funding source,” dagdag ng kinatawan. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
