Completion of proposed MUP reform bill eyed by July

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 14, 2023): Completion of proposed MUP reform bill eyed by July (By Anna Leah Gonzales)

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MANILA – The Department of Finance (DOF) on Wednesday said the economic team is aiming to finish the consultations and prepare the proposed bill for the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) pension reform before Congress resumes session next month.

"The idea is that we would have to create a fund that can take care of the pension so that the government can make fiscal space for the active service. This will benefit both retired MUPs and active personnel," Finance Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati Dorotan Tiuseco said in an interview.

Tiuseco said these include programs for health and housing.

To date, the economic team has held a total of nine consultative discussions with members from the Philippine Army (PA), Philippine Air Force (PAF), Presidential Security Group (PSG), Philippine Navy (PN), Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines Health Service Command (AFP-HSC), Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

"When we started the roadshow, our proposals were very different. But because we are listening, the proposals have changed," Tiuseco said.

The revisions were applied to address concerns and recommendations gathered by the economic team in the past consultations with various MUP services.

The Department of Finance earlier disclosed that one of the key pieces in the MUP pension reform is the proposal for the joint contribution between the MUPs and the government to sustain the pension fund.

Various schemes were also put in place to take into account the different financial situations of the pensioners.

In a separate statement, the DOF said that during the recent consultation with members of the PCG and PA which was held last June 9, government representatives assured the officers that their concerns and suggestions would continue to be taken into consideration in an effort to improve the current proposal and arrive at a mutually acceptable version of the bill.

DOF Undersecretary Maria Cielo Magno also allayed fears of several members of the MUP by clarifying that the military pension is only one of many areas of reform the government is currently reviewing.

"I want to assure all of you that the military pension reform is not the only one we are looking at to ease the tight financial conditions of the government. Just this morning, we identified eight new reforms to ensure that we will be able to finance all the needs of our budget for next year," she said.

Magno said these reforms include the rationalization of government bureaucracy to make it more efficient and other mechanisms to raise revenues.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1203547