AFP to conduct information drive on reforms

MANILA, Philippines - The military would conduct an information drive to update soldiers on the proposed reforms to the retirement system, which are intended to reduce the government’s pension arrears.

Maj. Enrico Ileto, acting military public affairs chief, said Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. wants to ensure that soldiers and their families are informed about the proposed reforms.

“The guidance from the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Chief of Staff (is)…to conduct widest dissemination on the matter,” Ileto said in a statement yesterday.

AFP Pension and Gratuity Management Center chief Col. Rolando Jungco said they are ready to go to field units to explain why the proposed retirement reforms are needed.

“We will talk to them so we can explain why these reforms are necessary and to provide them accurate information,” Jungco told radio dzRB last Saturday.

Ileto said the Office of the AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel would conduct the information campaign.

The government is pushing for amendments to Presidential Decree 1638, a retirement law that provided numerous benefits to retired soldiers. The reforms seek to cut the government’s pension arrears, which has ballooned to P16 billion.