Panel-crafted MUP bill seen ‘acceptable’ to all parties

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The House committed to approve its version on third reading as soon as possible or before August 29, he said.

“F or the past 25 years, the salaries have only increased for nine years, so this is also a win for the active personnel, who will get a salary increase every year for the next ten years,” he said.

“We are also ensuring that all the MUP services will get a separation benefit if they leave the service below 20 years in service.

That is a new benefit to the PNP,” he added.

Salceda said Congress, economic managers went through dozens of consultations, and heard the statements and comments of the various services before approving the bill.

“L et me reiterate the Three Guarantees of this Reform: Guaranteed salary increase; Guaranteed pension indexation; Guaranteed funding sources for the pension,” he said.

The approved substitute bill has included the proposed contribution scheme for the MUP pension, which incorporates both the positions of the legislative and executive branches of the government.

Under the proposed scheme, for the first three years of the reformed MUP pension, the government will shoulder 16 percent of the contribution, while the MUP would contribute 5 percent to fulfill the 21 percent total monthly premium for the trust fund.

In the next three years, 7 percent will come from personnel and 14 percent from the government. T his sharing scheme will be updated until the seventh year, when a contribution ratio of 9 percent to 12 percent is reached.

The sharing scheme for new entrants will be 9 percent from personnel and 12 percent from the government.

In the bill, lawmakers and stakeholders also agreed on the retention of promotion to one rank higher upon retirement.

They also agreed to a 90-percent maximum retirement package based on the base pay of all MUP, raising by 5 percent commodity prices and recover as quickly as possible from the economic scarring caused by the nearly three-year pandemic,” Villafuerte said.

But in the absence of a bigger allocation in the current national budget for the higher monthly pension, Villafuerte appealed to the DBM to “scour the 2023 GAA and other possible sources for enough funds to bankroll this year the 100 percent increase in the monthly pension of indigent seniors, in the same way that the Department had managed to ferret out a sufficient outlay to finance Malacañan Palace’s extended targeted cash transfer [TCT] project for the poorest families.”

He explained that RA 11916 last year doubled the monthly pension of indigent senior citizens from P500 to P1,000 the previous package for AFP personnel, plus base pay for a lump sum benefit upon separation below 20 years in service.

The bill also includes PNP personnel who served below 20 years in the list of those eligible for a lump sum separation.

It also guaranteed a 3-percent annual increase in salaries for 10 years and indexation of pensions to 50 percent of the adjustment in pay.

The proposal also fixes 57 as the age of retirement for all MUP.

According to Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, the President has approved decreasing the contributions of the government to the pool of funds for the pension of MUP, among other reforms to avoid a fiscal collapse.

For 2023 alone, Diokno said the government would spend more than P120 billion (roughly $2.21 billion at current exchange rates) to fund the pensions of those serving under several state institutions. The latter are: the Armed Forces of the Philippines; the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology; the Bureau of Fire Protection; the Philippine National Police; the Philippine Public Safety College; the Philippine Coast Guard; and the Bureau of Corrections. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz poverty measure, the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) next month. and granted additional benefits such as financial assistance to them from their local government units (LGUs) during disasters and calamities and tax breaks for employers that hire elderly Filipinos.

C urrently, Gatchalian said they still have a P96 billion budget left for 4Ps amid their ongoing “reassessment” of 1.4 million household beneficiaries.

Among those undergoing the review were the 700,000 beneficiaries, who were supposed to graduate from the 4Ps prior to the pandemic, and another 700,000, who are still undergoing assessment to qualify for the program.

Come the end of September, the reassessment will be completed and what we could do next is start paying them [4P beneficiaries],” Gatchalian said.

He noted this would be the last year they will handle the list of 4Ps beneficiaries through their “Listahanan” database, which has 4.4 million registered households.

S tarting next year, he said, the creation of the 4Ps beneficiaries would be handled by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and local government units.

“The task of creating the database was already removed from the national departments. PSA will now oversee it through its Community-Based Monitoring System,” Gatchalian said.

Villafuerte noted that in the President’s budget message to the 19th Congress following his economic managers’submission of his government’s proposed 2024 GAA of P5.768 trillion, President Marcos said: “We will provide P49.8 billion for the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens to ensure ongoing support for our vulnerable elderly population.”

“This amount is almost double compared to its previous funding as a direct outcome of the implementation of RA 11916, which, among others, introduced an additional P500 to senior citizens’ monthly pension, bringing it to P1000,” added the President in his message. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

(DOE) said Tuesday the agency is processing over 5,000 applications for the issuance of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) licenses.

According to Rino Abad, DOE Director for Oil Industry Management Bureau [OIMB], a list of registered LPG participants and their accredited LPG brands will be released soon.

“We are processing so far around 5,488 applications as of August 9. It will probably take us around one to one and half months to process the applications. After which, we will release a list of registered LTO [license to operate] holders and legitimate brands,” said Abad.

Under the LPG Industry Regulation Act, LPG industry stakeholders are mandated to convert their Standards Compliance Certificate (SCC) to LTO. Failure to do so would mean that their operations are deemed illegal.

“B y implication, any DOE-regulated LPG industry participants conducting business in the LPG industry without the said LTO and corresponding Certificate of Registration [COR] shall be in violation of the prohibited acts and will be penalized accordingly under the LPG Industry Regulations Act,” the DOE earlier warned.

Abad said illegal LPG brands are mostly those with generic cylinders. This can be determined if the trade name is not approved by the IPO, if the trademark is not properly marked in the cylinder, and if the trade name is not registered with the DOE together with its LPG seal.

He clarified that LPG cylinders with trade names Island Gas, Sulagas, and MGas are legitimate brands.

For 2022, the DOE-OIMB recorded LPG demand of around 3.297 billion liters or around 1.68 billion kilograms.

Employers reminded on proper pay rules during Aug holidays

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reminded all private sector employers to observe giving proper payment of wages to workers in the upcoming holidays this month.

DOLE S ecretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma issued Labor Advisory No.17 Series of 2023, which specifies the proper computation of workers’ wages for the special (non-working) holiday on August 21 and the regular holiday on August 28.

A ugust 21, which falls on Monday, is a special non-working holiday in observance of Ninoy Aquino Day, and August 28, which also falls on Monday, is National Heroes Day.

Labor A dvisory No. 17-23 states that employees who worked on the special nonworking holidays must be paid an additional 30 percent of their basic wage on the first eight hours of work.

T hose who rendered overtime work shall be paid an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate on the said day.

The “no work, no pay” principle may apply to employees who did not report for work. This is unless there is an existing favorable company policy or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) granting payment on a special day.

“F or work done during the special day that also falls on the employee’s rest day, the employer shall pay the employee an additional 50 percent of the basic wage on the first eight hours of work,” the advisory noted.

T he advisory added that work done “in excess” of eight hours during the employee’s rest days privileges an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on the said day.

E mployees who render work during a regular holiday, meanwhile, shall be entitled to a total of 200 percent wage for that day for the first eight hours.

In e xcess of eight hours, the employer shall pay an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on the said day.

T hose we worked on the regular holiday despite being their rest day shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the basic wage of 200 percent.

T he advisory also states that employees who worked on the said regular holiday that falls on their rest day shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the basic wage of 200 percent. Those who rendered overtime work shall be paid an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate. Patrick V. Miguel