Representatives Carlos Zarate and Neri Colmenares of the opposition group Bayan Muna commended President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s support for the increase of senior citizens’ pensions.
“We gratefully welcome president-elect Duterte’s support for Social Security System (SSS) pension hike. This considerate act is a stark contrast to the cold-hearted Aquino administration that did not even heed the woeful plight of our seniors,” Zarate said.
“President Aquino and his minions in the already discredited Daang Matuwid refused to recognize that the current pension is no longer liveable as it is not even enough for the medical needs of our seniors, not to mention their other basic needs, such food and housing,” he said.
In January, President Benigno Aquino 3rd rebuffed the pension hike because of its “dire financial consequences.”
Congress could overturn the presidential veto but it adjourned before campaign period without taking up the override resolution.
For his part, Colmenares urged Duterte “to also throw his full support to the override resolution that we intend to file before the 16th Congress adjourns next week.”
About 120 lawmakers at the House of Representatives have signed the resolution that aimed to overturn Aquino’s veto on the Congress-approved P2,000 pension hike, according to Bayan Muna.
