Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Wednesday, August 30 said majority of the soldiers are “willing to sacrifice” a portion of their salary to accommodate the Executive Department’s proposal to make contributions for their military pension mandatory.

But contributing at least nine (9) percent of their salary for their pension fund, as proposed by the Department of Finance (DOF), is a bit “too much” for the soldiers who are also faced with the high cost of food, rice and other basic goods and commodities. 

“Your soldiers are ready to sacrifice, even a portion of our pay, para lang makatulong sa ating bansa but mas maganda pa rin sana kung matupad yung pangarap ng ating defense secretary na wala nang iko-contribute yung mga sundalo natin (just so we can help our country, but it would be better if the dream of our defense secretary where soldiers need not contribute for their pension would still materialize in the end),” Brawner told Commission on Appointments (CA) members during his confirmation hearing. 

Brawner was referring to Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro’s plan to come up with a separate retirement system for the AFP using proceeds from sale of real estate assets of the AFP and assets left from the Retirement and Separation Benefits System (RSBS), which amounts to about P44 billion—all of which would be used as seed money for their trust fund.

“Mas maganda po sana yun (that would be good) because, really while our former president increased the pay and allowances of our soldiers, the cost of living today has also gone up. Mahal na po yung pagkain, bigas, pati kuryente. Yung mga sundalo natin sabi nila, sir malaki binabayad namin sa kuryente (The cost of food, rice and even electricity have gone up. Our soldiers are telling us sir we are paying for high electricity rates),” Brawner said.

“So talagang malaking bawas po sa sweldo ng ating mga sundalo (it would make a huge dent on the salaries of soldiers) if we will be made to contribute 9 percent of our base pay dun sa unang proposal (using the initial proposal),” he said.

“Sabi po ng ating mga sundalo, huwag naman po sana. Kasi malaki po talaga yung kaltas na po talaga na yun (Our soldiers are asking, please don't. Because the deduction is really big),” the AFP chief further appealed.

While his personal view on the mandatory contribution runs contrary to the DND chief’s position, Brawner said they support Secretary Teodoro’s planned pension scheme for the military “for us to be able to generate funds for our pension.”

“Para hindi na po kami aasa sa ating (so we don't always have to rely on our) General Appropriations Act (GAA). 

“So, maski kami po sa (even us in the) AFP, we are also thinking of ways on how to help our country deal with this, yung sinasabi po ng ating finance department na (what our finance department is warning about a possible) financial collapse,” he said.

“Dahil hindi rin po namin gusto na ang magiging rason ng (Because we don’t want that the reason for the) financial collapse will be the pension of our soldiers, that would be the last thing on our mind, Mr. Chair,” he said in response to a question posed by Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte.

Brawner also said that the number of military personnel who filed for an early retirement has increased due to the proposed reform in the MUP pension system.

“Tumaas po 'yung nagfa-file ng early retirement dahil nga po (the number of personnel who filed early retirement increased precisely because) they are anticipating na kapag lumabas yung batas, 'yung unang version po (that once the law is enacted, the first version would be carried). They are basing it on the early versions,” Brawner said.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno has remained adamant on the need to reform the pension system of the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) saying it would only be genuine and sustainable if contributions are made mandatory and the indexation is removed. 

Teodoro has voiced his opposition to the MUP bill even after a House ad hoc committee approved an “acceptable” version on pension reforms that includes provisions for a special assistance fund for indigent retired MUPs and uniform rates for lump sum benefits.

The CA, later on, approved the ad interim appointment of Brawner to the rank of General.