Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin urged Congress on
Friday to pass pending bills, including the proposed increase of the monthly
pensions of the country’s 168,609 living war veterans who are in the twilight
years of their lives.
Gazmin issued the call during the 43rd anniversary
celebration of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) held in Camp Aguinaldo ,
Quezon city
“There are also bills pending in the legislature pertaining
to our veterans. Let us combine our voices to make it louder so that our
lawmakers will hear our calling to pass House Bill 2367 and Senate Bill 638
which seek to increase monthly pension of veterans, and House Bill 2511 which
seeks to provide funeral assistance, death benefit, living assistance, and
undergraduate educational assistance to the surviving spouses and minor
children of soldiers killed in action,” Gazmin said.
At the same time, he urged President Benigno Aquino III to
support the passage of the bill to establish a Veterans Memorial Medical Center
(VMMV) in Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao and also to address the lack of
hospitals that could extend healthcare services to over half a million
qualified veteran beneficiaries, most of whom are based in the provinces.
Gazmin recalled that a year ago, he led the ceremonial groundbreaking
and signing of the deed of donation of five hectares of land inside the
Philippine Veterans Investment and Development Corporation (PHIVIDEC) in
Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental for the construction of VMMC in Mindanao .
He lauded Defense Undersecretary Ernesto G. Carolina, PVAO
administrator, for effectively implementing various benefits for the veterans
who made sacrifices in defending the country's freedom and democracy during
their active years in the military service.
Gazmin said Carolina
“World War II veterans are now receiving a monthly
TAD pension of P1,700,” he said.
“Another PVAO effort on the administration of benefits is
the improvement of its pension management system and ensuring the integrity of
its pensioners list through its validation program by entering into formal
agreements with partner banks, financial institutions, and government
entities,” he added.
Gazmin said he signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with
the Department of Health (DOH) last year upgrading the hospitalization benefits
of veterans.
Under the Veterans Hospitalization Program (VHP), a veteran
that is hospitalized will receive a subsidy of P1,200 per day.
VHP will also allow partial reimbursement of certain select
procedures and additional benefits, benefitting mostly veterans and dependents
in the provinces who cannot go to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC)
in Quezon City
“With regard to educational benefits, the education program
that PVAO is implementing is truly laudable as it provides college scholarship
subsidy of P36,000 per annum to any direct descendant of veterans who fought
either in World War II, Korean War or Vietnam War. From 2010 to the first
semester of 2015, an average of 2,312 scholars per year benefitted from the
program,” Gazmin said.
Another achievement in terms of administration of benefits
is the increase in burial assistance for veterans from P10,000 to P20,000,
effective Dec. 12, 2014.
Gazmin likewise praised PVAO for constructing various
national historical shrines that immortalize the patriotic and heroism of war
veterans.
“Through these, all Filipinos, especially the young
generations, are informed of the struggles of our veterans so that all of us
could live in peace today,” he said.
“Our shrines and historical commemorations remind us that
our freedom does not come cheap — that some people had to fight for it and
those were our veterans who are our genuine heroes who stood up to fight the
formidable enemy when others got scared; who have endured witnessing the death
of their comrades-in-arms and even innocent civilians; and who have witnessed
various untold horrors of war,” he said.
“Our veterans had sacrificed more than we will ever possibly
know. Putting up and maintaining shrines for them and celebrating their valor
are miniscule compared to what they have done for our nation,” he added.
Gazmin said that “another way of immortalizing the valor of
our veterans is by telling and re-telling the stories of their courage and love
for country through books and publications” which, he noted, PVAO under the
stewardship of General Carolina, has done.
On the other hand, Carolina
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=813379
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