DBM confident of funding CCT, military pensions
THE BUDGET department is confident that it can find the money for the increase in cash transfers (CCT) and pension overhaul for uniformed personnel next year, but added it needs to be selective with project proposals from government agencies due to “funding pressures” in 2019.
The cash transfers and pension commitments are “part of the 2019 budget; we are going to take that into account. We are confident we have enough revenue to cover the increase easily,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said during a briefing yesterday in Mandaluyong City.
Mr. Diokno noted that the government’s tax collecting agencies have been exceeding their targets in recent months.
Budget Memorandum No. 130, signed by Mr. Diokno on April 13, included a Tier 2 Budget Call - a notice to government agencies for new project proposals. The budget for Tier 2 items is P362.3 billion in 2019.
According to the memorandum, project proposals may need to compete for resources in the 2019 budget due to “funding pressures” including the P12-billion Tax Reform Cash Transfer Project, which calls for the P200 monthly transfer to beneficiaries to be raised to P300; the P33.9 billion for pensions for uniformed personnel following the lifting of pension indexation next year; and the P60.1-billion transfer of coconut levy funds to farmers upon ratification of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Act.
“We can do it. We actually have a funding forecast until the end of President (Rodrigo R.) Duterte’s term,” he said.
Funding requirements for uniformed personnel pensions have been growing in recent years because the pensions rise in step with the compensation paid to active-duty staff. Mr. Duterte signed in January Joint Resolution No. 1, authorizing the increase in base pay and incentives for soldiers and policemen.
The government suspended indexation this year.
Mr. Diokno said that the government “will not suspend indexation,” next year, but will proceed with a higher payout for pensioners to catch up with counterparts in active service.
“That’s our commitment to the pensioners,” he said.
The Department of Budget and Management has set a P3.78trillion expenditure program for 2019, up 12.2% from this year’s actual budget. —