Senate President Francis Escudero has filed a bill proposing the creation of a P20-billion trust fund to provide comprehensive social benefits to uniformed service personnel and their families.

Senate Bill 276 seeks to institutionalize the Comprehensive Social Benefits Program. This program would provide financial aid and welfare support to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Corrections, Philippine Coast Guard and their dependents.

Escudero stressed that previous efforts to improve the welfare of uniformed personnel, such as salary increases and other benefits, were mainly implemented through executive issuances, which are vulnerable to reversal. The new legislation aims to guarantee these benefits by law.

“It is only right to address the needs of our uniformed personnel when something happens to them — whether in war or while responding to crimes, fires, and other dangerous situations,” Escudero said. “The same applies to their families and loved ones. This is the responsibility of our government.”

The proposed P20-billion trust fund would finance a range of benefits, including lump sum financial assistance for beneficiaries in cases of death or permanent disability sustained during duty, educational scholarships and study grants, financial aid for home construction, rehabilitation, or improvement, and health and medical assistance under the Department of Health’s programs.

Additionally, qualified beneficiaries would be enrolled in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) or receive a monthly subsidy of 40 kilos of rice or its cash equivalent, alongside employment assistance coordinated by relevant uniformed service agencies.

SB 276 is among the first 20 measures filed by Escudero in the 20th Congress, all aimed at strengthening support for uniformed personnel nationwide.