Inaprubahan, pensyon ng beterano gagawing P20K

   Inaprubahan na ng House committee on appropriations ang panukala na itaas ang old age pension na natatanggap ng mga Filipino war veterans.     Ayon sa chairman ng komite na si Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles aprubado na ang funding requirements para gawing P20,000 ang P5,000 pensyon ng mga beterano ng World War II, Korean War, at Vietnam War.     “Our war veterans are literally a dying breed. There will be less of them with us as the years pass by and that’s why we need to pass this measure as soon as possible. Once our war veterans are gone, they are gone forever,” ani Nograles.     Ang mga beterano ng World War II, Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea at Philippine Civic Action Group na walang natatanggap na pensyon a AFP ay nakatatanggap lamang ng P5,000 pensyon kada buwan at Total Administrative Disability pension na nagkakahalaga ng P1,700 kada buwan.     “The 300 percent increase in old age pension that’s being sought by the measure is a deserved benefit for our veterans. We should guarantee them and their kin a minimum livable pension in accordance with the times. It will relieve them a great deal when it comes to their burden of buying maintenance medicine and other essentials,” dagdag pa ng solon.     Hanggang noong Disyembre 2017, mayroong 7,069 World War II veterans at 173 PEFTOK at PHILCAG veterans o kabuuang 7,242 beterano.       Karamihan sa WW2 veterans, na sumama sa pakikipaglaban ng mga Amerikano, ay nasa edad 90 na.       Gagastos ang gobyerno ng P1.51 bilyon kada taon sa panukalang ito. “Whatever cost the government will incur as a result of this pension hike is worth it if it will show that we know how to take care of our own heroes.”