Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (Facebook)

Stakeholders have had numerous opportunities to give their take on the House of Representatives' bid to legislate a reform measure that would make the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) pension system more sustainable. 

Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda had this to say Friday afternoon, Aug. 18 after reports came out that Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gibo Teodoro was opposing the substitute bill approved by the Ad Hoc Committee on the MUP Pension System. 

"Everyone, including the DND, was given abundant opportunity to provide their comments, either through the hearings or through officially transmitted statements to the Committee," said Salceda, who chairs the ad hoc panel. 

The House leadership specifically formed the panel earlier this month in order to "fix" the MUP pension system through a reform measure. 

"The MUP pension reform will be based on the principle of both shared benefit and shared sacrifice. Around that principle, we can discuss the details. But we must not lose sight of that principle," Salceda said. 

"The constitutional implications of the reform were abundantly studied in papers from the Legal Affairs and Parliamentary Counselling units of both houses of Congress especially in the 18th Congress. We proceeded with advise from them that we are in the clear," he noted. 

The Bicolano further said: "The President has thrown his weight around stressing the need for a solution. We will proceed from that." 

Earlier Friday, Teodoro was quoted as saying that he thumbed down the mandatory contribution of military personnel, especially those who have had 20 years of service. 

Teodoro insisted that no changes should be made on the pension and entitlements of retired military personnel. He also said that 100 percent indexation or the continued rise in pension along with the rise in salary of active military personnel must also be kept.
 

Salceda and Teodoro's remarks notwithstanding, there are still a handful of opportunities to change the contents of the still unnumbered substitute bill on MUP pension reform. These include the period of amendments on the House plenary floor, and the bicameral conference committee hearings between House members and senators.