I write this for an ailing friend (and for the rest of poor pensioners) whose hope for the much-awaited P2,000 increase in their monthly SSS (Social Security System) pension flickered out when President Aquino vetoed last month the SSS pension hike bill passed by Congress.
No amount of argument—e.g., that he would rather be “heartless” now than be considered “careless” in the future—can appease the helpless, frustrated pensioners and assuage the mounting anger they feel toward the present administration.
How could my friend understand this government given the predicament he is in?
This 68-year-old bachelor-friend of mine lives alone. He worked with one of the country’s leading private banks from 1972 to 1990. Today, he relies on a meager monthly pension of P1,260 to pay (barely enough) for his medications for arthritis, hypertension and other “old-age illnesses.” Yes, it’s 5 percent higher than the P1,200 he first received when he started getting his monthly pension in 2007. And he is renting a room for P3,000 a month.
Months back, he was so upbeat about the prospect of an increase in his pension, especially after the bill’s principal sponsor, Sen. Cynthia Villar, an administration ally, made an assuring statement: “Given the rising cost of living, it is high time we gave our retirees and their family a monthly pension that will allow them to at least live with dignity.” And no less than Senate President Franklin Drilon, another ally of President Aquino, said that the move to increase the SSS pension was Senate’s early Christmas gift to SSS pensioners.
Sadly, the sudden turn of events has made my friend feel dejected.
Of course, for President Aquino and his allies, it’s easy to say that my friend’s declining health condition cannot be blamed solely on government. But isn’t it the state’s mandate to care for its people, especially those who are old and have less in life?
With the forthcoming national elections, I often wonder, like my destitute friend, if this administration’s avowal of “daang matuwid” is worth keeping faith with.
—BELEN DOCENA-ASUELO, bdasuelo@yahoo.com