AFP floats possibility of removing retirees’ pension for seditious statements

Retired military officials and personnel could be at risk of losing their monthly pension for spreading fake news against the military and making statements that incite sedition.

At a news forum on Saturday, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said that the AFP is reviewing the military pension system and the possibility of trying retirees under court martial amid reports that some retired officers had called on the military to withdraw its support from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 

“Civilian nga po category nila, but ito nga po sabi natin since nagre-receive sila ng pension, pag-aaralan natin how this will fall into play,” Padilla said.

(They are in the civilian category, but we said that since they are receiving a pension, we will study how this will fall into play.)

Asked if retired officials could be at risk of losing their monthly pension, the AFP spokesperson said, “If the legal channel determines that this is so, then we will follow.”

She said that seditious statements and spreading fake news have corresponding legal consequences.

“The AFP is not 'gonna take this sitting down,” she said.

AFP chief-of-staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. earlier admitted that some retired officers had called for withdrawal of support against Marcos by the military amid public protests over the flood control anomalies revealed last month.

For his part, Philippine Navy Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the highest-ranking military officer monitored by the AFP as spreading fake news was a two-star general.

A retired two-star general, Trinidad said, receives a monthly pension of about P160,000.

“'Pag tumatanggap ka ng pension sa gobyerno, it follows na dapat may pananagutan ka sa tinatanggap mo so ito ay kasama sa pinag-aaralan ng legal officers ng AFP,” Trinidad said.

(When you receive a pension from the government, it follows that you must be responsible for what you receive, so this is included in the study of AFP legal officers.)

“Ang problema ngayon, pati mga retired, pilit binabago ang katotohanan. Hahaluhan ng mali, fake news para guluhin ang kaisipan ng kasundaluhan. Kung ang problema ay corruption, ang sagot doon ay higpitan ang project management, hindi umaklas ang militar,” he said.

(The problem now is even with retirees, they are trying to change the truth. They will spread falsehoods and fake news to confuse the minds of the military. If the problem is corruption, the answer to that is to tighten project management, not to revolt against the military.)

The Department of National Defense (DND) also previously denied rumors of an alleged coup plot by the military against the Marcos administration.

According to the report, the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO), alongside other groups, met with Marcos last September 19, two days before the anti-corruption protests on September 21, wherein a riot also erupted in Manila. —VAL/KG, GMA Integrated News