MANILA, July 15 (PNA) — A total of PhP99,755.49 initial pension has been released for the families of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) officers who were killed in the Jan. 25, 2015 Mamasapano encounter, the Employees Compensation Commission (ECC) said.
Stella Banawis, Executive Director of the ECC, an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), reported to Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz that the families of the SAF 44 also received a total of PhP860,000 in funeral benefits.
Banawis said the ECC started releasing the funeral benefits as early as February, with the first release made on the 16th of that month to a beneficiary in Region 1, while the last recipient, who is from Region X, received it on March 3, 2015.
The ECC official said that 35 families already received their Employees Compensation (EC) survivorship pension benefits.
She explained that nine others have not yet received the said pension due to legal issues, which are currently being resolved.
For her part, Baldoz said that the ECC’s earliest release of the pension to a beneficiary was on Feb. 2, 2015.
The immediate release of benefits to the families of the SAF 44 was made through the issuance of ECC Board Resolution No. 15-02-05 directing the Government Service Insurance System to immediately process and release the corresponding EC disability benefits to the wounded SAF troopers, and funeral as well as death benefits to the qualified beneficiaries.
The amount of EC monthly pension, which was released starting Feb. 26, 2015, depends on the SAF members’ salary, length of service, and the number of children dependents who are entitled to receive an additional 10 percent of the monthly income benefit.
The SAF members were killed in an encounter with rebels in Maguindanao last Jan. 25. (PNA)