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Lacson, Drilon want govt pensions centralized


(Updated 11:13 a.m.) At least two senators are suggesting that the government create a body that would oversee all pensions within the bureaucracy. "(Why don't we) centralize all pensions (in) the entire bureaucracy... maybe an office created under the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)," Senator Panfilo Lacson said during Wednesday's Senate finance committee hearing on the proposed budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) for 2012. "That concept should be studied," Senate finance committee chair Sen. Franklin Drilon said during the same hearing. Lacson and Drilon made the suggestion after it was revealed that P34 billion of the DND's P106-billion proposed budget for 2012 was actually allocated for pension. "I cannot uderstand why the pension fund is in the Armed Forces budget. It has nothing to do with our mission in the AFP and DND. The DND and AFP should... transfer the pension budget somewhere else," said Drilon. "(You should) see whether you can move the pension budget so that you can have a correect and accurate presentation of your operating budget so all the data... would be accurately presented (and) not a bloated budget," he added. Rising number of beneficiaries Defense Undersecretary for Veterans Affairs Ernesto Carolina said there are around 254,000 pensioners on their list. He said this includes pensioners due to old age, disability, and death. However, Drilon said he was concerned that the number of pensioners will soon overtake the number of active personnel in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. "At a certain point I think you will require more budget for the veterans in the active service," he said. The senator raised the same concern during the budget hearing last year. During the same hearing, Retirement and Separation Benefits System (RSBS) president Emilio Marayag said the budget for active personnel and military pensioners may "intersect" by 2016. But he said that the number for all pensioners, including World War II veterans, and active military personnel may intersect as soon as 2014. Lacson, for his part, then asked Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin how he plans to resolve the impending problem. "Can you offer a solution. Can we at least deter the time of intersection. If there is an offered solution what is it?" he said. Gazmin said they are in the process of drafting he RSBS bill, which is meant to "stop the bleeding" of the pension fund. He likewise said that they are awaiting a study by the GSIS on how they can adjust the retirement payment system. The Senate hearing was ongoing as of posting time. — Kim Tan/RSJ, GMA News
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