Magdalo to promote welfare of retired AFP soldiers, personnel

MANILA, March 2, 2013-Magdalo Para sa Pilipino (Magdalo) vowed to craft measures the will provide more protection to the welfare and benefits being received by retired soldiers and personnel of the armed forces and their families, once they win a congressional seat in the May midterm elections.

“Magdalo’s long-standing relationship with retired soldiers and their families has given it the comprehensive view of the often neglected and underrepresented sector of retired soldiers. We feel their pain and suffering, and it’s about time that we help them hear their voices,” said Gary Alejano, the party-list group’s first nominee.

He added: “We will waste no time once elected to office. We have identified priority measures, most of which seeks to ensure aid and guarantee benefits to retired soldiers and their families even after their term of service. We must let them feel that their government and its people appreciate all the blood and sweat they sacrificed for their country.”

Among the measures Magdalo plans to focus on if it clinches a seat in the House of Representatives are the upgrading of veteran’s pensions and benefits, the institutionalization of scholarship grants to dependents of soldiers, and the creation of the national military appreciation week.

Alejano heads the civilian volunteer organization Samahang Magdalo, which works hand-in-hand with the party-list group. Even before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has approved its application as a party-list organization, it has been engaged in various socio-civic activities through the efforts and initiatives of its members, comprised mostly of retired soldiers and personnel of the military.

Part of the group’s advocacy to reform the government is fight corruption and maintain peace and order in the country. 

“A representative for retired soldiers and their families is a necessary step toward a meaningful move to provide them with the necessary attention and resources from the government they rightfully deserve,” Alejano said.

Other Magdalo nominees are its national spokesman and secretary general Francisco Ashley Acedillo and former Navy Lieutenant Manuel Cabochan.

Magdalo is one of the 79 party-list groups which the Comelec has accredited to run in the national and local elections in May.