From Abad to Urgello

Dear Lt. Gen. Urgello,

I hope this letter finds you well. We wish to assure you that we appreciate the difficulty of your situation and that of other retired soldiers and surviving spouses, and that the Aquino administration — particularly through the Department of Budget and Management — has been working to ensure that you receive the pension payments due you as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Allow us to clarify a number of things with respect to your concerns. As early as 2011, we requested you and your fellow pensioners to re-register at government servicing banks — such as the Land Bank of the Philippines — to allow us to facilitate the swift release of your pension payments. The Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loan Association, Inc., however, is not an authorized government depository bank. Because of this, transferring government savings — the funding source for pension payments — is not only risky; it is also not supported by any legal basis.

Should you wish to make the most of the interest rates of SLAIs so that you can augment your monthly pension payments, you can transfer your pension funds from your Land Bank ATM account to the SLAIs once you’ve received your benefits.

It may also be helpful to note that to date, the DBM has already released P26.7 billion to cover the pension payments of 104,816 retired military personnel. These funds are supposed to cover your pension requirements from January to November, as well as the partial fund requirements for December of P46.5 million.

Should you have other concerns about the release of your pension benefits, please feel free to get in touch with my office through our Public Information Unit. You may send an email to [email protected] or get in touch with us through +6324901000, loc. 2602.