Honoring our veterans

EVERY year on April 9 we honor our war veterans during the commemoration of the Araw ng Kagitingan or the Day of Valor.

We remember how Filipino and American soldiers fought hand-in-hand against the Japanese in their invasion of the Philippines in 1942. For 93 days they stood their ground, outnumbered and outgunned as the Japanese forces went on their relentless attack until April 9 when American General Edward P. King finally surrendered in what has come to be known as the Fall of Bataan.

Historians recorded the plight of 76,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war who were forced to walk from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga and then by rail to the internment camps in Tarlac. Several of the POWs died along the way and only 54,000 made it to their final destination.

 On April 9, 1990, former President Corazon Aquino signed into law Republic Act 6948, a landmark law that standardized and upgraded the benefits provided to our military veterans and their dependents.

The law paved the way for the grant of a monthly disability pension, which ranged from P600 to P1,125 depending on the level of their disability. It served as a way for our government to recognize the veteran’s “patriotic services in times of war and peace, for the cause of freedom and democracy; for the attainment of national unity, independence, and socioeconomic advancement; and for the maintenance of peace and order,” as the law states.   

Four years later, under the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos, a veteran himself, RA 6948 was amended by RA 7696 to increase the disability pension rates to a new range of P1,000 to P1,700. The law also provided an additional P500 a month for the spouse of the veteran and for each of their minor children.

It has been 28 years since the pension rates were adjusted. The cost of living has drastically become more expensive since. It is a no-brainer that the disability pension should be increased to factor in inflation and to make this more meaningful for the beneficiaries.

It was the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) that brought to my attention the matter of the disability pension of our soldiers early on during the present 19th Congress. I promptly filed Senate Bill 911 to institute a second round of increases for the disability pension of our veterans. In our bill, we are seeking an increase of at least 450 percent to the disability pension that will effectively widen the range to P4,500 to P10,000 a month. The benefits given to the spouses and children will go up 100 percent to P1,000 each.

Our gratitude goes out to our chairman of the Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, Senator Jinggoy Estrada for conducting hearings on our bill, as well as his own Senate Bill No. 683, the report of which he sponsored in plenary last Tuesday. It is worth noting that the original law, RA 6948, had Senator Estrada’s father, the former President Joseph Estrada as one of the co-authors and my own father, former Senate President Edgardo Angara as a co-sponsor. And when RA 7696 was enacted, my father was the sitting Senate President.

Based on official data from the PVAO, there are 7,957 persons currently receiving disability pension. 4,386 of them are veterans, 2,776 are spouses of veterans and 795 are minors. Even though the government is still strapped for cash at this time due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, we are grateful for the support that the Department of Budget and Management has provided for the increases proposed in the bill, as relayed to the PVAO. The PVAO estimates the fiscal impact of the pension increases at P442 million for 2023; P434.1 million in 2024; P402.3 million in 2025; P384.6 million in 2026; and P366.8 million in 2027.

PVAO Administrator, Undersecretary Reynaldo Mapagu said the increase in disability pension would not only provide our veterans with additional disposable income for their daily expenses, but would also serve as a tangible manifestation of the government’s effort to promote the welfare of veterans. I fully agree with the PVAO. This is an expense that is justified to honor our veterans for the service they have provided to keep us safe and to uphold the freedoms we enjoy to this day.

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Sen. Sonny Angara has been in public service for 18 years—9 years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 9 as Senator. He has authored, co-authored, and sponsored more than 330 laws.  He is currently serving his second term in the Senate. 

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Email: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara/PN