Albay 2ns District Rep. Joey Salceda (FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda on Tuesday said he accepts Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.’s proposal of full indexation for Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) pension reform, noting that the plan will add some P1.2 trillion more to the actuarial reserve deficiency.
“As chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, I would like to assure the Secretary that his requests are acceptable,” Salceda said during the hearing of the House Ways and Means committee.
“Of course, the proposal will add some 1.2 trillion more to the actuarial reserve deficiency, from the current 2.2 trillion under the current substitute bill,” he said.
Actuarial reserve refers to a reserve set aside for future insurance liabilities.
He also said that under the proposal, only new entrants will contribute nine percent with a government counterpart of 12 percent.
Salceda also said that he also adopted Teodoro’s request to retain full indexation for those who are retired and due for retirement.
Teodoro earlier expressed disagreement with the proposal on the indexation of pensions to 50 percent of adjustment in pay, from the previous 100 percent automatic indexation.
He raised objections to the proposed blanket mandatory contributions for military personnel, especially for those who have already completed at least twenty years of active service.
Salceda however, said there could be some “pushback” from the Department of Finance (DOF) and other economic managers.
“There could be some pushback from the DOF and the economic managers on the Teodoro proposal,” he said.
“So, we hope that within the executive, they will sort their position out.”