The military pension debate

IT IS becoming more likely that there will be reforms in the pension benefits being enjoyed by retired uniformed service personnel.

The shape and form is now the only remaining question. Secretary of Finance Benjamin Diokno who is the face of this effort seems bent on pushing it thru.

tribute towards their pension by some kind of monthly pay deductions to be matched by the government just like other government workers in the civilian government bureaucracy and stop the indexation.

The PNP has a vital role to play in maintaining law and order throughout the country.

The bedrock of our democratic system is the rule of law.

It has to deal firmly with both organized crime and street crime because these erode the people’s faith and confidence in their government.

Crucial to this effort is the active support of communities that it is mandated to serve and protect.

At the same time, the PNP leadership must maintain the highest levels of integrity and professionalism within the organization.

This means imposing the appropriate sanctions on those who commit abuses or become involved in criminal activities, while giving due recognition to those who consistently perform well in law enforcement.

The country needs a police force that can serve and protect the citizenry.

The PNP should render service with compassion, performance with integrity, and law enforcement with vision.

amounting to almost P42M a year which to them is more scandalous.

Acting in understandable haste, the undersecretary whom the president entrusted with day-to-day activities in the department caused the issuance of an SRA permit to import 600,000 metric tons of sugar with him signing in behalf of the president.

That caused such a political tempest complete with Senate investigations that the undersecretary manned up to, knowing that he was in the right.

For political optics bereft of economic sense, the import permits were canceled, the SRA leadership and the undersecretary’s head were chopped (albeit temporarily in the case of the undersecretary).

The controversy also added to the travails of an executive secretary who was asked to resign so early in a new president’s term.

Retail prices of the commodity rose to heights never before experienced, from 70 pesos per kilo to 110, leaving food processing businesses to increase their prices, further fueling an inflation that was supplydriven more than demand-pulled.

Those prices were never really tamed, despite the optical illusion peddled by the unsustainable Kadiwa stores.

Now the senior undersecretary issues motu propio an import permit for 440,000 tons of sugar, and by himself awarded the entire caboodle to three traders, absent the usual bidding processes.

Another Senate investigation has begun, although the senior undersecretary was absent, even if the Cabinet’s primus inter pares, the executive secretary whose authority the USec invoked was present.

The entire shipment of the 440,000 has yet to arrive, but just yesterday, the president mismo authorized another 150,000 metric tons.

Meanwhile, have prices moved down? No.

I cannot for the life of me recall a crisis in that kitchen necessity called onions until this administration came to fore.

Can you imagine paying 700 pesos for a

Practice through every previous administration till the previous one where we had a rice supply crisis in 2018 mandates that government should have 30 days inventory when the lean months (July till September or the monsoon season) begin.

That’s just around the corner.

The NFA asked the president to authorize the importation of 300,000 tons, equivalent to some nine days (just nine days) enough to ensure they would be able to supply the DSWD and LGU’s with rice in the event of natural calamities.

That was about a month ago, but no action has yet been taken.

The usual naysayers cajole the NFA and its newly appointed administrator for wanting to import. Why not buy local?, they insist.

That’s what the 2019 law called the Rice Tarrification Law imposes.

The problem is, the “privates” in the industry—miller, traders, buyers, etc., have been buying palay at 21 to 24 pesos per kilo, while the NFA Council has authorized the NFA to peg its buying at 19 pesos per kilo.

Congress may have given NFA a budget of 9 billion pesos, but no one is selling to government, because the privates “have it.”

And the privates who have mastered the intricacies of the market are buying high because they sense some “good news” in the air.

Their “good” news is bad news for everyone else.

Meanwhile too, Indonesia has a standing order of 2 million tons, but the ASEAN country from which it earlier contracted with has failed to deliver even a quarter of its import order.

Will our private importers be able to source enough?

Or have they pre-purchased and are waiting for the right crunch time to unload, when prices shall have soared?

Sugar, onions, corn, smuggled vegetables, and soon rice?

Is anyone really in charge?

Who’s minding the store?

According to him, the money going to uniformed retirees is such that, if nothing is done to reform the system, there will be a government fiscal collapse by 2030 which is just seven years away.

As if that doomsday messaging is not enough, the IMF Western Pacific regional representative has joined the fray by saying there will indeed be a fiscal problem due to the “generous pension benefits.”

I do not know why he found it necessary to inject himself into this politically sensitive internal issue or whether that is even part of his duties.

There are also others whose criticisms are actually nothing but disguised envy.

Just last week, a broadsheet national daily came out with an editorial criticizing the military pension benefits as quite unfair.

The editorial could hardly hide its sarcasm and patronizing attitude to the much heralded reason that military pensions are such because soldiers put their lives on the line in the service of their country.

In all the rhetoric, however, I have not seen an overall concrete proposal put forward by those advocating for reform on how best to solve this so called looming fiscal collapse.

All that I have seen so far is the pounding on the issue that the average retirement pay of a military retiree is about P40,000 while that of an SSS and GSIS pensioner are about P4,000 and P12,000 respectively, emphasizing the difference between the two.

People seem to forget that before President Duterte, who by the way was the only President who had the political will to keep his campaign promise of doubling the entry level pay of men in uniform, uniformed personnel were paid destitution wages for so long.

The other is the indexation of pension benefits to the pay of active serving uniformed personnel.

Reform proponents further want to require uniformed service personnel to con- such countries as Italy, Belgium and Spain, according to HSI.

Conservation income

The law is backed by numerous celebrities including model Kate Moss and football presenter Gary Lineker, but African conservationists and those in the hunting business say it is misguided.

Trophy hunting—where hunters pay thousands of dollars for the right to kill usually big game animals like elephants and lions—has long been controversial.

Perhaps, the good Secretary can come out with his complete recommendations on how best to solve or mitigate the problem and then pass it around so it can be studied thoroughly instead of his constant media doomsday messaging.

But to be fair to the good Secretary, part of what he is saying is not new.

It was actually tried before in the military.

If my memory serves me right, in the 1980s, we in the service actually were deducted an amount every month to pay for our projected retirement benefits with the government contributing a share.

After several years, however, this was abruptly stopped for reasons I have never really found out.

The contributions were reimbursed to us without any interest. It appears that something happened to the management of the funds and, from what I understood at that time, some officers were eventually charged.

There was also a time when we paid contributions to the GSIS but this was also abruptly discontinued due I believe to the enactment of the PNP Law in 1992.

I would like to think the police and military are thinking people who can understand reason if they see one.

Those critics who denigrate the services provided by men and women in uniform do not help the situation at all.

We have to bear in mind there are other agencies in government that are also enjoying the same retirement perks if not better.

How about them?

The fact that the retirees in these agencies are fewer in number is not the point of the argument.

It is about the so called unfairness of the military pension system that is the bone of contention.

Furthermore, many members of both houses of Congress, for instance, have taken a negative view and are not fully convinced of the entirety of what Secretary Diokno is proposing.

So do many senior retirees from both the police and military who have taken to social media to criticize the salary of Secretary Diokno as being the highest in the government and ornaments.

Thousands of carcasses are processed at the Rayton facility, near Pretoria, every year.

Most come from culling done by game reserves, while a smaller part is brought in by international hunters, says Swart.

The only thing that was not touched was the pension indexation which retirees have enjoyed ever since I can remember.

There are therefore some starting points for a meaningful dialogue which hopefully will result in a positive way forward.

Those involved in finding solutions must also be a lot more creative in their thinking and those currently in senior positions in the Military and Police should not just wait for developments but this early, must put forward their positions.

For instance, would they be willing to contribute for their retirement benefits and agree to be paid their retirement benefits based on the ranks they held when they retired?

How about the issue of indexation?

Would they be willing to give that up or lessen the increase?

Lastly, it would do well for Secretary Diokno to look up the incentives, benefits and other remunerations of other countries in the region to see how our military pay scale and retirement benefits compare with them. It might just shock him to find out that compared to them, ours may be actually at the lower end of the totem pole.

Afrikan Tanning & Taxidermy firm.

Hunters from China, Russia

Critics say shooting wild animals for fun is cruel, wasteful and pushes endangered species closer to extinction.

For South Africa’s National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, hunting an animal for it to be mounted on your wall is “questionable”.

“There are far more ethical and humane ways of generating income,” said spokeswoman Keshvi Nair.

RAYTON, South Africa—Workers in Pieter

Swart’s tanning and taxidermy workshop are busy skinning impala heads, bleaching buffalo bones and softening zebra skins.

His business in South Africa has thrived for years, but the 58-year-old says it is now threatened by a British law sponsored by animal activists.

The bill, which bans the import of hunting trophies, could open the way for a deluge of similar legislation, Swart worries.

This would scupper demand for the centuries-old craft of stuffing hunters’ quarry for display, leading to painful job losses in top international hunting destinations in southern Africa, he says.

“We are very much concerned,” Swart, a zebra skull sitting on his desk, tells AFP. “The law could create a domino effect”.

The British legislation, which aims to help protect endangered animals, was approved by UK lawmakers in March.

Covering thousands of species, including lions, rhino and elephants, it reflects a broader shift in western societal views on hunting against a backdrop of declining global wildlife numbers, according to animal rights groups.

“This is very much the start of a change in attitudes amongst (European) countries,” says Matthew Schurch, wildlife expert with animal welfare group Humane Society International. Similar bills are being considered in

Proponents contend that the killing of a small number of selected, usually old animals generates much needed income for conservation and anti-poaching efforts and support local communities.

Trophy hunting contributes more than $340 million a year to South Africa’s economy supporting some 17,000 jobs, according to a 2018 study.

Hunters often bring home parts of the animals as trophies. These are processed by taxidermy firms that employ about 6,000 people in South Africa, according to Swart, leader of trade group South African Taxidermy and Tannery Association.

Piles of skins, skulls, horns and bones lay in his workshop, waiting to be turned into rugs

“Hunting and culling are one of the processes of managing the animals. And to waste a skin like this...and to just let it degrade is not cost effective,” Swart, sporting a grey goatee, says pointing to a zebra bust hanging on the wall.

A full mount taxidermy of a rhino costs more than 130,000 rand ($6,800), while a cheetah goes for $1,360

“If they are going to ban this job,... I am not going to manage to feed my family,” says Elias Pedzisai, 45, who works his “magic” bleaching skulls at Swart’s

While Britons make up a small share of trophy hunters in South Africa, the law— which is being scrutinised by the upper house of parliament—is already causing damage, says Swart.

If more countries were to follow “we will see a considerable part of our market come to a grinding halt,” says Douglas Cockcroft, director of Splitting Image Taxidermy, another company employing more than 100 people.

The prospect already has South African taxidermists pursuing new opportunities.

“There have been inroads into the Chinese and Russian markets,” Swart says.

“Hunters from those countries that in the past didn’t come here now are coming to South Africa on a more regular basis.” AFP

Six Pinoy victims of human traffic charge recruiters before the DOJ

By Rey E. Requejo

SIX Filipinos victims of human trafficking who claimed they were forced to work as cryptocurrency scammers in Myanmar have filed criminal complaints against their recruiters before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) did not identify both the complainants and the respondents.

In a statement, IACAT said the recruiters consisted of three Filipinos and one Chinese national. It said the complaints were filed last May 15.

The victims were reportedly assisted by PNP-WCPC (Philippine National PoliceWomen and Children Protection Center) and the DOJ-IACAT in filing the charges against their recruiters) for alleged violation of the anti-human trafficking law. Due to the latest trafficking complaints, the IACAT warned the public “to be wary of online job offers abroad, particularly in member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“We advise (the public) to check the legitimacy of the job offer abroad and the recruitment agency with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to avoid becoming victims of human trafficking,” the IACAT stressed. It said the public should not hesitate to report “any information that may help rescue or assist human trafficking victims and prosecute the perpetrators.

In the case of the six complainants, the IACAT said the victims “were recruited as ‘Customer Service Representatives’ (CSR) online to work in Thailand, but were actually brought to Myanmar to lure foreigners into the cryptocurrency scam.”

“According to the victims, their employer demanded that they pay $7,000 each in cash for breach of contract if they would like to return to the Philippines,” the IACAT said.

“They were locked in separate rooms, their passports and cellphones confiscated, subjected to physical harm by hitting their buttocks and lower legs, hogtied, and starved,” the IACAT added.

The agency said the complainants “contacted their families and paid the Chinese employer in Myanmar.”

“Five of six complainants paid P300,000 each, while the other one was only able to raise less than the demanded amount, but the employer also set her free together with the others,” it also said.