Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana
MANILA -- Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana expressed his appreciation to President Rodrigo R. Duterte for approving and giving priority to the DND request to implement the provisions of Congress Joint Resolution (JR) No. 1 or Joint Resolution Authorizing the Increase in Base Pay of Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) in the Government, and for Other Purposes, s. 2018 which the Chief Executive signed on January 1 of this year.
“Truly, your unparalleled support for our uniformed personnel serves as our guiding light as the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) continues to pursue its duty to the Filipino nation,” Lorenzana said on Saturday.
Through the MUP pension increase, Lorenzana said the sacrifice and dedicated service of all Filipino soldiers have been truly and duly recognized.
It will be recalled that the Department, by virtue of an official letter to Malacañang written on May 17, 2019, recommended that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) be directed to implement the pension indexation under JR No. 1, s. 2018 and release additional funds for that purpose.
The letter was signed by Defense Undersecretary Cardozo M. Luna, who was then officer-in-charge of the DND.
On June 11 this year, the DBM announced that it has released the pension requirements amounting to PHP54.231 billion of retired MUP under the AFP-General Headquarters (AFP-GHQ), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
The amount was broken down into PHP29.9 billion to the AFP-GHQ, PHP21.7 billion to the PNP, PHP1.9 billion to the BFP, and around PHP731 million to the BJMP.
"The momentous grant of the Department’s request will help in its pursuit of its mandate to protect the State and the Constitution, and will boost the morale of our past, present and future defenders, who have risked their lives in service to the Philippines and its people," Lorenzana said. (PNA)
