Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil. PHOTO from www.congress.gov.ph
MANILA, Philippines—A lawmaker has sought an inquiry into the nonpayment of the pension and pension differentials of retirees of the defunct Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police (PC-INP), “amounting to billions of pesos,” from 1991 to 2006.
Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil, a former director at the Philippine National Police (PNP), asked the appropriations committee to conduct an inquiry as to why the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has not released funds for the retirees’ pensions in spite of repeated letters to the agency.
“Unfortunately, up to the present, the DBM has not acted on the matter,” said Bataoil, vice chairman of the committees on appropriations, veterans affairs and welfare, and public information.
“The committee on appropriations should conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the DBM’s nonpayment of the pension differentials of the PC-INP retirees for the period covering calendar years 1991 to 2006,” he said in House Resolution 1098.
Under the General Appropriations Act for 2014, P22.9 billion was appropriated for the retirement benefits and pension of PC-INP retirees duly authenticated by the PNP, for the pension in the current year, Bataoil said.
The Supreme Court, in a decision dated May 9, 2007, affirmed its own decision upholding a lower court’s ruling that the PC-INP retirees were entitled to the same retirement benefits accorded to PNP Retirees under the PNP Law, or Republic Act 6975.
In that decision, the government was ordered to make the proper adjustments on the PC-INP retirees’ retirement and other benefits, retroactive, to its date of effectivity, and to release and pay the retirees their due.
“Since the issuance of the Supreme Court decision in 2007, the PNP has always incorporated in its annual pension and gratuity budgets the pension differentials of its retirees. However, the DBM has not released any amount for that purpose,” Bataoil said.
Reacting to Bataoil’s inquiry resolution, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, chair of the committee on appropriations, said the matter could be taken up during the forthcoming budget hearings.
“I think we can also take this up during the budget deliberations,” said Ungab.
In April, Director Rolando Purugganan of the PNP Directorate for Comptrollership said the PNP had been constantly coordinating with the DBM for the agency to release yearly the money that would cover not only the pensions but also the differentials of the retired PC-INP members.
Based on records, the PNP sent letters to the DBM on Nov. 7, 2013, Feb. 26, 2014 and March 7, 2014, urging the release of the money.
The PNP also appealed to Ungab to make representations with the DBM for the release of the required funds for the payment of pension differentials of PC-INP retirees covering the period 1991 to 2006, according to Purugganan.
On Jan. 29, 1991, the PNP Law under Republic Act 6975 was enacted mandating the creation of the PNP with the members of the PC-INP as its nucleus and the absorption of selected members from the major service units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Pensions and pension differentials due to retired PC-INP members have accumulated, reaching billions of pesos, over the years, Bataoil said.
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