The Department of Finance (DOF) said the results of the military pension reform consultations were highly encouraging, raising optimism for the timely implementation of a new pension regime by January next year. During the Post-SONA Philippine Economic Briefing on Tuesday, July 25, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said that Congress is expected to pass the new pension system for military and other uniformed personnel (MUP) by the year's end. “So, it will have an impact as soon as January of next year,” Diokno said. Starting from May, top officials of the DOF have been engaging in meetings with the MUP personnel to deliberate on the specifics of the proposed pension reform, aiming to finalize the measure before presenting it to Congress. “We have been going around them explaining to them and so far, I think the results of the consultation are very encouraging,” Diokno said. The MUP pension bill, one of the five key fiscal and economic reform proposals approved by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, seeks to establish a resilient pension framework for military and uniformed personnel. Diokno said the MUP pension bill is a transformative proposal that, upon enactment into law, will create significant fiscal room in the budget, amounting to approximately P300 billion for the year 2024 alone. “The military pension reform is going to be a game changer,” Diokno said. “And this, as I said, this has been an elephant in the room that the previous administrations didn't want to talk about, recognizing it's difficult to push.” The DOF MUP pension reform measure identifies three distinct beneficiary groups, as outlined by the finance secretary. Retired MUP personnel, in accordance with the government's contractual obligations, will be unaffected by the pension reform. Active service personnel, on the other hand, will be gradually obligated to contribute to the new pension system, while newly recruited personnel will be required to pay the full monthly contribution amount. The current MUP pension system operates on a non-contributory basis, with the national government fully funding retirement pensions and benefits through yearly appropriations. In 2023, the Pension and Gratuity Fund has been allocated P272.94 billion, which is nearly 50 percent higher than the 2022 level of P183.94 billion. The annual fund is designated for disbursing pension and retirement gratuity, as well as terminal leave benefits, including separation benefits and incentives. As the MUP pension system reform is still pending legislation, it is included in the comprehensive P5.768 trillion 2024 National Expenditure Program.