Aquino hails vets: Your sacrifices not forgotten

Healthcare

The government, he said, is making sure that war veterans are receiving “the necessary healthcare,” especially in government hospitals like Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

“Part of our efforts is the provision of daily medical subsidies for veterans when they get confined at a health facility. We also extend financial assistance for operations concerning cataract, coronary angiogram, angioplasty, cardiac bypass and chemotherapeutic agents,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said that nearly 9,000 veterans and their dependents have benefited from the healthcare service provided by the government since he took office in July 2010.

To date, the service amounts to some P81.6 million, he said.

The government also provides the veterans subsidies for medical products such as orthopedic implants and prosthesis, hearing aids and dentures, he said.

Education

The President also emphasized that since July 2010, the government has provided support for the education of 15,571 dependents of veterans under the PVAO’s Educational Benefits Program where each qualified dependent is given

P36, 000 a year.

The government has allocated P305.2 million for this program since he took office, the President said.

He also gave the assurance that active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are taken care of as well.

“Whether here at home or abroad, they truly demonstrate the caliber of our uniformed services. They confront dangers that are, at times, unimaginable or beyond what were agreed upon,” Mr. Aquino said.

“I say this on behalf of our countrymen: We salute our uniformed services for the valor they demonstrate, and all the Filipinos who are ready to stand for principle, regardless of the challenges set before them,” he said.

Not enough

But the war veterans and their families who managed to attend the ceremonies found the President’s announcement wanting.

Bonifacio de Gracia, executive vice president of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) and former assistant chief of staff for personnel of the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division, was disappointed that Mr. Aquino said nothing about pushing legislation in Congress that would increase the veterans’ old age pension.

Remedios Arellano, 75, wife of a war veteran, said she was dismayed that Mr. Aquino did not announce an increase in veterans’ pension and benefits.

The P5,000 monthly pension is not enough to buy medicines, said Gene Guamos, 80, widow of a war veteran.

Leonardo Reyes Baluyot, 89, from Botolan, Zambales province, said Mr. Aquino did not promise anything for war veterans like him.

According to Baluyot, he receives P6,700 as a monthly pension but it is not enough to sustain his needs.

Veterans have been asking the government to raise their monthly pension to at least P20,000, but a bill that would give them more benefits remains pending in Congress.