World War II veterans in Negros Oriental are clamoring for an increase in their monthly pension, citing the high cost of basic commodities, medicines and hospitalization.
The concern was raised during the 67th anniversary celebration of the liberation of Dumaguete and Negros Oriental from Japanese imperialism on Thursday.
Justice Venancio Aldecoa Jr., 2nd Negros Oriental Veterans district commander, said the P5,000 monthly pension is not enough to cover medical expenses and hospitalization, since most of the veterans are around 80 to 90 years old and some of them are sickly.
Nostradamus Villanueva, chief of operations of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, meanwhile, said the government is already expanding the medical services for veterans.
These include the provision of orthopedic implants and prosthesis, hearing aid, orthopedic braces, false teeth, hernia mesh, cataract removal, and angiogram bypass, among others.
Villanueva also disclosed plans to establish hospitals for the veterans in Mindanao and in Cebu, and that nine government hospitals in Negros are already accredited by PVAO.
But the government cannot do anything about the clamor to increase the pension of veterans unless the law is amended, he said.
Villanueva said proposed legislations to amend the law have been pending in Congress for more than three years, one of which was filed by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, that seeks to add P1,000 each year until the pension is fixed at P10,000.
