These things take time.
On Thu, Jul 14, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that the government would not be able to double the basic salary of state forces yet. He explained that the PHP3.35-trillion proposed budget for 2017 did not include an allocation for it. “There’s none. It’s not included,” Diokno quipped.
President Rodrigo Duterte has said that providing better compensation to law enforcement agents would discourage them from engaging in unlawful activities like protecting illegal drug syndicates.
In fact, prior to Duterte’s inauguration, his running mate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, said that the incoming administration was already laying the groundwork for the proposed PHP50,000 monthly salary or members of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Cayetano said that the amount was intended to be the minimum pay (base pay and allowances included) for cops — specifically those ranked as Police Officer 1 (PO1).
READ: Cayetano: PHP50K per month minimum salary for cops already in pipeline
“However, Diokno said the realization of the President’s promise may have to be on the back burner for the meantime as the government would have to address other pressing financial issues besetting the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),” reports Marlon Ramos in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
After presenting the Duterte administration’s first proposed budget, Diokno said, “We’re studying that. In fact, we are trying to consider everything. The problem is that the government already owes so much to the pension fund of the (soldiers) and policemen. It has ballooned.”
