THE chairman of the House committee on ways and means has raised the alarm on the fiscal sustainability of the Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) pension system, saying it could face “total fiscal collapse” in the future unless reforms are enacted to save it.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, panel chairman, said the pension system has a P9.6 trillion unfunded reserve deficit, primarily because uniformed personnel do not have a contribution system and that MUP pensions are much higher that of civilian personnel.

“This problem has been easy to ignore in the past because pension spending was under control. It was a very daunting warning sign when pension spending exceeded MOOE for the uniformed services in 2018. It meant we were spending more out of the budget to serve retired personnel than to protect active members,” Salceda said.

Under the current MUP system, almost the entire pension spending for MUP comes from the national budget.

“This is a looming fiscal crisis. Without the reform, funding the pension scheme will become fiscally unsustainable, shrinking the economy by as much as 7.2 percent in the long-run. This is worse than what the economy sustained in the 2004 fiscal crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis,” Salceda added.

“This could be bigger than the 2004 fiscal crisis that I worked to contain then, and worse than the 2008 crisis that we were able to avert. We have to prepare while the fiscal storm hasn’t come yet,” Salceda said.

Salceda filed House Bill (HB) No. 9271, or the fiscal framework for the MUP pension system.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez fully endorsed the reform and has sent Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco a letter asking for the support of the House of Representatives on the matter.

Salceda’s proposed bill contains the following features:

1. Complete discontinuation of automatic indexation of pension payments, which can be periodically reviewed and increased to a maximum of 1.5% per year;

2. A mandatory contribution rate of 21% of gross salary, similar to that of civilian government employees;

3. Adjusting the pensionable age to 56 years old instead of the accumulation of at least twenty (20) years of satisfactory active service in the current MUP system;

4. Basing MUP pension on the rank upon retirement;

5. The use of MUP assets to supplement budget for pension costs;

6. Creation of the MUP Trust Fund Committee to govern the fund, and designating the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) as manager of the MUP Trust Fund;

7. Tax exemptions on the MUP Trust Fund and applicability of all GSIS tax exemptions on the MUP Trust Fund as long as the GSIS remains its fund manager; and

8. Authorization for the MUP Trust Fund Committee to create insurance products that specifically cater to the unique risks that uniformed personnel take.

Salceda said that estimates he crafted with the Department Finance (DoF) show that with the reform, funding the pension scheme will be sustainable for the government.

“Despite a small curb in short-run consumption, public spending will stimulate the economy, resulting in growth by as much as 2.1 percent in 2021 and 5.8 percent in 2030,” Salceda said.

BIGGER INSURANCE BENEFITS

Salceda also said he is pushing for bigger risk insurance benefits for the MUP.

“The good thing about having a reserve fund set aside is that it helps us create better insurance products for uniformed personnel. My proposal will help ensure that those killed in action or hurt in the line of duty will get bigger compensation. That’s the benefit of having contributions. We can compensate risks better,” Salceda said.

“If we don’t do this reforms, chances are we won’t have salary increases for uniformed personnel because the pension is linked with their salaries. It’s unfair to our active service members that we can’t guarantee their pensions. Inaction on this matter will be very bad for everyone. We can’t kick the can down the road on this. We have to act now, while Congress has the resolve to do it,” Salceda said.