Budget Dept. releases P4.83B in PNP pension payments 

The Department of Budget & Management on Monday said it released P4.83 billion worth of pension benefits to some 54,660 retirees of the Philippine National Police.

 

The amount supports the payment pension for the first quarter of the year, the department said, noting the police pensioners will received their pension through any Land Bank of the Philippines automated teller machines with the payment now done in electronic form instead of checks.

 

Some of the police service are expected to receive their pension payments via any LandBank automated teller machine following the switch from check to electronic payments.

The total amount will support pension payments from January to March this year.

 

"Even as we aim to give proper budgetary support to our retired policemen, we also want to ensure that their pension payments are made in a transparent and accountable way,” said Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad.

 

“Our transition to electronic payments for distributing the monthly pension allows us to preserve the accuracy and timeliness of the pension payments, so that retirees can claim their set monthly payments more quickly and efficiently,” he added.

 

With the electronic payment system, Abad noted the government was able to weed out fictitious or ghost entries entered into the PNP data base.

 

the use of ATM for pension payments instead of the traditional check payment has enabled the government to weed out fictitious or “ghost” entries from the PNP pensioner database.

He added that electronic banking will also prevent fraudulent accounts, since the creation of an ATM account will require a personal appearance and valid identification documents from a prospective account holder.

 

The PNP has documented 63,465 retirees, of which 54,660 entries have been verified and enrolled in LandBank ATM accounts as of send-December 2012. 

 

The department noted that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office are also now ATM transactions for pension benefits, a part of the drive toward  improved transparency and efficiency in government transaction.

 

Such reforms were cited during the Better Than Cash Alliance High-Level Panel Discussion last week during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

 

“More than ever, we need to lay down the necessary structures for transparency, accountability, and openness in the way we handle public funds,” said Abad.

 

“With digital technology now at our disposal, it will be easier for us to track and monitor all transactions within the bureaucracy. 

 

This doesn’t just lead to faster transactions, liquidation, and auditing—it also helps us ensure that every peso spent by government will not be wasted on corruption, but will instead benefit the ordinary taxpayer in a real, immediate, and substantial fashion,” the Budget chief added. — VS, GMA News