Dispatch from Crame No. 1072:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the misplaced insertion of the military, police pension in Bayanihan 3

Clearly, the Bayanihan 3 bill which recently passed in the House of Representatives is intended to be a "lifeline" stimulus package designed to help Filipinos who are bearing the imponderable economic and social impacts of the pandemic. It is reassuring to know that the most-needed wage subsidies, allowance for teachers, and aid for the agri-fishery sector or ayuda is coming their way. Kahit papaano ay may maaasahang tulong ang ating mga kababayang patuloy na naghihirap dahil sa mga epekto ng pandemyang ito.

Ngunit, nakakagulat na sa ?401 bilyon pondong kalakip ng Bayanihan 3, mukhang may pabaong naisingit na wala naman sa mga orihinal na bersyong isinumite ng mga mambabatas sa Kongreso. Bakit may ?54.6-bilyong para sa pensyon ng militar at pulisya? Anong klaseng pakulo na naman 'yan?

It is repulsively misplaced in a proposed legislative measure that is supposed to help us paddle through the waves of an ongoing pandemic. Just to be clear, in case the minions of Mr. Duterte have forgotten or are too preoccupied with trying to please a particular political party, we are dealing with a health crisis. "Solusyong medikal, hindi militar" nga ang ulit-ulit na sigaw natin. Sakit, gutom at kahirapan ang kalaban. Walang kinalaman ang pensyon dyan, 'di ba? Nasaan ba talaga ang prayoridad?

We all know that Congress will be working to fix Duterte's messy and rash policy of increasing the base pay for the military and police which critically impacted the government's pension system for our uniformed personnel. But why now? And what good will this even do when the government knows it's already cash-strapped enough as it is? This stealthy move is further proof of the Duterte government's misplaced priorities.

Sa gitna ng malawakang krisis lumabas ang tunay na kulay ng administrasyong ito. Napakaraming mas karapat-dapat na makatanggap ng halagang iyan: mga medical frontliner, mga manggagawang nawalan ng trabaho, mga gurong patuloy ang kalbaryo sa distance learning, mga mahihirap na walang makain sa araw-araw, mga maliliit na negosyong nagsara o nanganganib na magsara. Lahat ng iyan, at marami pang iba, ay pinagkakaitan ninyo ng tulong para lamang mapanatili ang katapatan ng pulis at militar sa Pangulong taksil sa Inang Bayan. Kahiya-hiya.

I remain hopeful that there are enough of my colleagues who are sensible enough to reject these provisions when the Bayanihan 3 bill eventually makes it way to the Senate. Simple lang naman dapat ang layunin nito. Ayuda para sa mas higit na naghihirap at nangangailangan na Pilipino muna.

(Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 1072 here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no_1072)