HEADLINE-POLITICS | Phil. Senate President Zubiri to PMA alumni: Protect Constitution

MANILA, Philippines — Amid bickering with congressmen on Charter change, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Saturday enjoined Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni to “protect the Constitution and our sovereignty.”

“I am hopeful that the men and women of the PMA are with us in our stand,” Zubiri said during the alumni homecoming in Baguio City.

He made the call amid the signature campaign for Charter change through a people’s initiative, which pushes Congress to vote as one, diminishing the power of 24 senators compared to 315 congressmen.

The event, attended by 1,696 PMA alumni, marked the 50th anniversary of the Marangal Class of 1974, of which Zubiri is an honorary member. Other class members include Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Rear Admiral Rogelio Calunsag, Lt. Gen. Horacio Tolentino and Gen. Avelino Razon.

Zubiri detailed the Senate’s push to include over P10 billion in the Department of National Defense and the Philippine Coast Guard’s 2024 budget for the procurement of air and maritime assets, arms and defense systems.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources also secured over P500 million for the development and enhancement of marine stations, he noted.

“We in the Senate are always one with you in the work to protect our people, our nation, and our sovereignty,” he said.

“We are one with you in securing our country against all threats to our democracy — whether from external actors who use their military might to try to cow us into giving up our borders, or from insidious actors who attempt to undermine our hard-won freedoms from within our own country, or worse, even within our own government,” he added.

Zubiri also mentioned legislative gains such as the Self-Reliant Defense Posture Act and the reorganization of the Philippine National Police.

He gave assurance that the Military and Uniformed Personnel Fund Act “will not renege on the contract that the Republic entered into when brave Filipinos like you enlisted in the defense of the motherland: that you will enjoy your pension in full without having to pay for it.”

There are other sources of funding, such as leasing military assets, he noted.

Under Senate Bill 2501 sponsored by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, only new entrants in the military and uniformed services will have pension deductions in their monthly pay.

The proposed reform seeks to strike a balance between economic managers’ concerns regarding tight fiscal limitations and the military’s constitutional mandate, Estrada said.

Zubiri told the PMA alumni to work with the Senate in “upholding the sacred democratic freedoms that our forebears fought and died for.”