THE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) allayed concerns of some police officers on the “co-mingling” of the pension of military and uniformed personnel (MUP) with other funds, arguing that such will not happen under the state pension fund’s watch.
In a statement, the Department of Finance (DOF) said one of the concerns raised by some members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was whether the MUP pension would be the same as the pension for non-uniformed civil servants.
The DOF statement quoted GSIS Senior Vice President George S. Ongkeko Jr. as saying that the state pension fund would only “manage” the funds while “protecting” the independence of the MUP pension.
“Sa GSIS, we ensure na walang co-mingling of funds. Huwag po kayong mabahala. Si GSIS po maraming minamanage na fund, at sa lahat po nung mga fund na yun, we make sure na wala pong co-mingling. Kanya kanya po talaga,” Ongkeko said Thursday.
[At GSIS, we ensure there is no co-mingling of funds. Don’t worry. GSIS has many managed funds and, in all those funds, we make sure that there is no co-mingling.]Finance Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati C. Dorotan Tiuseco told the PNP that the economic team is “more than willing” to have further conversations “to further flesh out other concerns and details” that they may have.
“Rest assured that we would be more than willing to talk in smaller groups if needed so we can better explain the proposals,” Tiuseco said.
Representatives from the DOF, the GSIS and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) met with PNP officials and officers to discuss the proposed reforms to the MUP pension system.
The meeting with the PNP is part of the economic team’s second leg of consultations with stakeholders of the MUP pension system.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon emphasized during the meeting that consultation is an “integral part” of the MUP pension system reform process.
“This is precisely why we have these kinds of forums [so we can see your] perspectives and, together, we can achieve a collective buy-in,” De Leon said.
Around 300 police officers attended the talks in person, with at least a thousand participating online, according to the DOF.
Earlier this week, finance officials announced through a statement that government’s economists are introducing changes to proposed reforms in the pension of military and uniformed personnel following a meeting with defense and security officials. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/06/05/dof-offers-3-options-in-pension-of-mups/)