MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang has already endorsed the draft resolution for military and uniformed personnel salary hike, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced on Tuesday, September 26.
In a statement, the DBM said the Duterte administration has come up with a Congress Joint Resolution authorizing the compensation adjustment for cops and soldiers on Wednesday, September 20.
President Rodrigo Duterte made several pronouncements in the past promising higher salaries to the military and the police. (READ: Diokno proposes police, military pay hike to fulfill Duterte's promise)
According to the DBM, a Police Officer 1 in the Philippine National Police can enjoy a 100% increase – from the current P14,834 base pay to P29,668 – should the resolution be signed by both houses of Congress.
The same pay hike will be enjoyed by a private individual in the Department of National Defense and equivalent ranks in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Public Safety College, Philippine Coast Guard, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.
The adjustment will result in a 58.7% average increase in base pay for all military and uniformed personnel ranks by January 1, 2018, the DBM said. (READ: DBM wants cops, soldiers to fund their own retirement)
According to estimates, the increase in base pay for soldiers, police, firefighters, and jail guards will entail an additional cost of P63.4 billion for government.
This will be funded from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund and from the available allotment in the respective budgets of the agencies.
No more provisional allowance
The budget department said that provisional and officers' allowances will no longer be part of the adjusted compensation.
"These are granted as an interim measure pending the modification of the base pay schedule," the statement said.
In 2016, former president Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 201 that increased the compensation of all government workers, including military and police, in 4 tranches up to the year 2019.
The first and second tranches were already applied in the 2016 and 2017 budgets. (READ: Pay hike for cops, soldiers included in 2017 proposed nat'l budget)
While Aquino's EO did not raise the basic salary of police and soldiers, it gave them higher hazard pay, a provisional allowance, and officers’ allowance. – Aika Rey/Rappler.com