House Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Representative Joey Salceda on Tuesday stated that the hazard that the navy and uniformed personnel pension fund would dry up was a much bigger downside than the “mass exodus” of uniformed personnel if the MUP pension reform was applied.
“I have expressed my concerns and my recommendations with the economic managers. Ultimately, we must balance the needs of military and uniformed personnel with the sustainability of the MUP pension system. Fiscal sustainability is also national security,” Salceda stated.
“I have suggestions that are different from the administration’s proposal. We in Congress will flesh the matter out. But allow me to simplify the issue: if we run out of funds to support the MUP pension system, there will be graver concerns than a mass retirement,” Salceda added.
Salceda then referred to as on the Executive division to recalculate the unfunded liabilities given 5 years of no MUP wage enhance, in addition to rethink the necessity for contributions to the MUP pension system.
“I am thinking about the AFP-RSBS (Armed Forces of the Philippines-Retirement and Separation Benefits System ) which ultimately failed to be a self-sustaining system. We need to learn the right lessons from that institution,” Salceda stated.
“We also need to outline and estimate the least disruptive but effective fiscal improvements to the pension system,” Salceda added.
Several Senators stated that implementing a 5% to 9% month-to-month contribution amongst uniformed personnel for his or her pension as proposed by the Marcos administration’s financial workforce was value a examine. — DVM, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
