DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/13 June) – Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said he will propose to increase to P50,000 minimum salary for members of the Philippine National Police in support to the campaign promise of his former running mate President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte.
Cayetano told reporters during the opening of “36 Buttons” exhibit at the Abreeza Mall on Sunday the proposed increase will start from the rank of Police Officer 1.
Those with ranks of director will receive P100,000, he added.
He said this means allocating an additional P50 billion a year for PNP personnel who number 170,000 at present.
He believed this can be done without reducing the budget of other government programs since the country had always experienced budget surplus at yearend.
He said next year’s unprogrammed budget is about P300 to P400 million.
Cayetano said there would still be about P150-P250 billion left of the of P3-trillion 2016 budget at the end of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s term.
If the increase pushed through, police personnel would have a monthly take home pay of P35,000 to P40,000 net of tax, which would be more than enough for a starting officer in Manila where the cost of living is estimated at P35,000, he said.
He said the salary of an entry level police officer is only about P20,000, which includes the allowance and the base pay of P14,800.
He added the P50,000 salary would already include the benefits of an entry level police officer.
Cayetano said he hopes to get congressional approval of the proposal to have the increase implemented before Christmas this year.
He said increasing the PNP members’ salary is easy but that of the military is a “bit complicated.”
He noted that while Duterte was happy “that we are starting to put in the proposal” some members of Congress wanted simultaneous salary increases for all public servants. He said this would not be possible.
He said he has already submitted the proposal to Duterte and incoming PNP chief Ronald Dela Rosa before he would submit a copy to incoming Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for further review.
“Once ma-review ng ating pangulo (Duterte) and ng ating DBM (Diokno) ang numbers ire-release namin sa inyo. Ang ibinigay ko sa inyo is option 1, 2 , and 3 kasi ang pwede i-taas mo pwede allowance. Ang improtante sa amin makapag-take home sila ng P35,000 to P40,000,” he said.
He added that if the country’s economy continued to perform well they may be able to increase the salaries of other government workers.
Aside from salary increase, the senator is also planning to propose an additional P20 billion budget for the retirement pay of PNP members. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)