Should the current retirement age at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) be extended from 56 to either 60 or 65?

The Senate national defense chaired by Sen. Francis Escudero sought to answer this question after forming a technical working group (TWG) to draft a bill on his issue.

In Monday’s first public inquiry by the Senate national defense committee in the current 15th Congress, Escudero asked the PNP through Police Chief Superintendent Herold Ubalde and Lt. Gen. Ricardo David, AFP chief of staff, to designate their technical officers to the Senate’s TWG.

David and Ubalde said their organizations would frame their position on the retirement issue raised since 2002 and promised to submit them to Escudero next week.

In so far as Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III is concerned, a military man or a policeman retiring at the age of 65 is already too old and one retiring at 56 is too young.

He asked the Escudero committee to study the feasibility of adopting the retirement age at 60 which to him is just right.

Compulsory retirement age for civilian government employees is 65.