A Civil Service Commission (CSC) commissioner said Monday that she supports bills created by Congress that seek to lower the optional retirement age for government employees.

In the'' Laging Handa'' virtual briefing, Lizada said she thinks the optional retirement age for government employees should be lowered from 60 to 56.

“Personally- I’m not speaking for the Commission-I am for the lowering of the optional age of retirement from sixty to fifty-six years old,” Lizada said, noting that the Philippines has both the highest mandatory and optional retirement age among the ASEAN countries.

“Many of them are sick and many of them are also tired. It’s good to infuse new blood. Let us give them the opportunity to enjoy their life with their families, or maybe they want to have livelihood projects or small businesses with their family. Let us give them a comfortable retirement,” she added.

Lizada said that she had surveyed government employees from Luzon to Mindanao and around 98 percent of respondents told her they want to lower the age of optional retirement.

According to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the optional retirement age is 60 while the mandatory one is 65. Jaspearl Tan/DMS