Veterans pension budget cut ‘fake news,’ says Lacson

MANILA, Philippines — Be wary of fake news.

This was Senator Panfilo Lacson’s message on Wednesday amid rumors circulating that the budget for the pension of retired military and uniformed personnel will be cut this year.

Lacson said the alleged budget cut for veterans’ pension is not true as he had proposed an increase in the Pension and Gratuity Fund in the 2019 national budget.

“Our retired military and uniformed personnel will get the much-deserved increase in their pension retroactively once President Rodrigo Duterte signs the budget bill into law,” Lacson said in a statement.

He added that several reports quoted House appropriations committee chairman Rolando Andaya Jr. as saying that the Senate cut the budget for veterans in 2019.

Lacson said several pensioners had asked him to clarify if the alleged budget cut was true. He advised the public to be careful of fake news.

“It’s bad enough that some parties continue to peddle lies to confuse the public, all to keep their pork,” Lacson said.

“It’s worse if they claim they are doing this in the name of transparency. Fake news na, fake transparency pa,” he added. /ee