Stressing that it would be healthier” for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday cited the need to reduce the general-to-personnel ratio in the military, saying there are “too many generals.”
Speaking at the Senate national defense committee hearing on bills prescribing fixed terms for the Chief-of-Staff and other key officers of the AFP and reforming the pension system of military and uniformed personnel, Lorenzana said “I say the bill is already, I think it’s OK as far as I’m concerned.”
Lorenzana was alluding to Senator Richard Gordon’s bill on the fixed terms for the chief-of-staff and other key officers of the AFP.
“Except for one thing,” Lorenzana said, adding that he would like to include the lowering of percentage of generals to 0.1 as compared to the number of troops of men in the AFP.
At present, he said the percentage is .125 and in fact, “we have already exceeded that percentage.”
“We see it here among the higher ups we have too many generals, and if we can put it down to 1 is to 1,000 I think that will be healthier for the organization,” he said.
“Our strength is 143,000, that means we should only have 143 generals in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. I believe, personally, that we have too many generals in the Armed Forces,” he added.
Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto expresseed his preference for a mixed system of a defined benefit and mutual fund for the pension of the military and uniformed personnel.
He urged the Department of Finance, the Bureau of Treasury, and the Government Service Insurance System to look into this proposal, adding that a mutual fund, if invested properly, would benefit pensioners more.
