An appeal to the President from a retiree
Supposedly, the pension rate of retired military personnel is based on the salary of active military men. Unfortunately, when
the preceding Aquino administration raised the salaries of active military personnel, it did not allocate a budget for the corresponding increase in the pension of retired military personnel.
Being a retired military man, I felt deserted by our former commander in chief because of this oversight. I surmise thousands of families left by those who sacrificed their lives on battlefields feel similarly.
Former president Benigno Aquino III should have taken into account, too, the sacrifices made by the retired military personnel who spent the prime of their lives in the service of our country, away from home and family. Now that they are in the twilight years of their lives, they are being denied the benefits they ought to receive.
The former president might have forgotten that soldiers died saving his life and did not abandon him when he was ambushed and wounded by rebel soldiers.
May this letter reach President Duterte as an appeal for his administration to allocate a budget for the corresponding increase in the pension of retired military personnel, and the fallen soldiers’ widows and children.
ILDEFONSO G. FALLA, Parañaque City
