Qualified surviving World War II veterans will receive again another partial payment of their long-delayed “Total Administrative Disability” (TAD) pension after the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) released last Tuesday P40,800 for each veteran as another partial payment of TAD pension for two years covering the period 2004 and 2005.

PVAO Region 1 Officer Maria Juanita F. Rivera said the new partial payment will be deposited automatically to the bank accounts of the qualified WWII veterans aged 80 and above.

Rivera said this represents the TAD backpay with an amount of P1,700.00 per month for another two years.

“The qualified veterans can now update their PVAO accounts to verify the said amount,” she said.

It was noted that those surviving WWII veterans who were already receiving their disability benefits were no longer receiving the amount because they had already been receiving P1,700.00 per month disability pension.

Rivera clarified that pursuant to the Republic Act No. 7696 of 1994, the TAD pension is paid only to the living veterans while surviving spouses of deceased veterans are not entitled to the said benefit.

“Due to budget scarcity, living World War II veterans are given priority. The TAD pension of post-war veterans like the AFP retirees shall be paid next by PVAO as soon as fund is allocated thereto from the national budget,” she said.

Last April 2010, an estimated lump sum of TAD pension amounting to P81, 600.00 was released by the administration of former President Arroyo to each qualified surviving WWII covering a period of four years from January 2006 to December 2009.