Gov't still owes vets P16B in disability benefits

MANILA, Philippines - The government still has close to P16-billion worth of unpaid disability obligations to veterans and their spouses, data from the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) showed.

The unpaid total administrative disability (TAD) to surviving spouses of World War II veterans who reached 70 between April 9, 1984 and December 2009 but died before 2010 is P2.26-billion.

There are 13,693 pensioners who belong to the group, the most prioritized in the payment of the disability arrears.

The government owes nearly P1.3-billion worth of TAD to 4,889 living post-World War II veterans aged 80 and above.

Unpaid disability obligations to surviving spouses of war veterans who reached 70 between April 9, 1994 and December 2009 but died before 2010 stands at P613.66 million. There are 3,471 beneficiaries who belong to the group.

The amount of disability arrears to 5,438 living post-World War II veterans aged 70 to 79 stands at P382.4-million.

The government also owes P11.44-billion to 46,584 deceased veterans who reached 70 and without surviving spouses.

The total disability arrears to 74,075 pensioners is P15.99-billion as of the end of 2013.

PVAO said the payment of arrears is part of the government’s resolve to fulfill its commitment under Republic Act No. 7696. The law, which seeks to upgrade the veterans’ benefits, was enacted in 1994.

“The gap between the law’s passage and the time that government started paying TAD pension resulted in accumulated unpaid pension obligations amounting to some P25-billion from April 1994 to December 2009,” PVAO said in its yearend report.

PVAO said efforts are underway to fulfill the government’s obligations to the veterans. These measures include the cleansing of pensioners’ list to remove ghost pensioners and dubious entries.

In its yearend report, PVAO said it has paid P2.877-billion TAD arrears for the period of 1994 to 2002 to 17,817 living war veterans.

The payment was charged against the Pension Gratuity Fund of the 2013 General Appropriations Act. The payment of TAD arrears was made possible by the authority given by President Aquino in July 2013.

To date, the government has settled P6.93-billion worth of disability arrears.

“As a result of agency reforms to cleanse the pensioners list, primarily the shift to direct bank remittance instead of mailing pension benefits, PVAO was able to generate savings in 2010 which allowed the payment of P4.052-billion TAD arrears for the period 2003 to 2009,” PVAO said.