MISAMIS ORIENTAL (PIA)--In celebration of this year's Philippine Veterans Week, the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO)-10 has shared that a proposal to increase the pension of all veterans is currently awaiting approval in Congress, April 4.
"The PVAO proposed an increase in the old-age pension from P5,000 to P8,000 per month," PVAO-10 Field Service Extension Office (FSEO) Head Luisa Revecho shared during 'Talakayan sa PIA'.
Aside from the old-age pension, there are also plans to raise other pensions, such as the service-connected disability pension, which would go from P1,700 to P10,000, and the total administrative disability (TAD) pension, which would go from P1,700 to P4,500.
Health and Education Benefits
In addition to pensions, veterans are also qualified for hospitalization benefits, wherein 16 beds are allocated for the veterans and beneficiaries at the veteran's ward in the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NNMC), reimbursement of medical maintenance expenses is provided, and a memorandum of agreement is signed by 50 different hospitals within the region.
A direct descendant of a World War II veteran can avail themselves of educational assistance from the PVAO, which can be acquired once per lineage. There is also education assistance for the children of those soldiers who are killed in action, which can be availed of by two children under the Armed Forces of the Philippines Educational Benefit System (AFPEBSO). Through the AFPEBSO program, a child can avail themselves of tuition fee assistance from elementary school through college.
Meanwhile, Revecho also announced that the veteran's ward in the Camp Evangelista Station Hospital is almost done, and a memorandum of agreement was signed between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority for the P30 million cost of supplies and medicines per year.
PVAO-10 currently has 2,951 active veterans in northern Mindanao. The agency vows to keep the legacy of our veterans alive through strengthened social support and to instill it in the minds of the younger generations. (JAKA/PIA-10/Misamis Oriental)
