In Photo: This file photo shows members of the Philippine Army during a troop parade in Manila. The Philippine government under President Duterte believes raising the salaries of soldiers and policemen may intensify the fight against crime.
Part One
CAN the government pay its way to fight crime and for peace and order?
With the plan of President Duterte to hike the pay of policemen and soldiers, it appears so. Mr. Duterte, it seems, is wielding the powers vested in his office to ensure his centerpiece program of ridding the country of crime, particularly illegal-drugs business, will succeed.
The Chief Executive has upped the pressure: He set a deadline of six months to accomplish his campaign promise.
One of the powers wielded by Mr. Duterte is by placing the Philippine National Police (PNP) under his direct command to produce results. With the overwhelming number of arrests, and even dead bodies, something unprecedented in PNP history, it appears the whole police organization heeded the order of the Commander in Chief.
Citing official police data, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) has said an average of 10 persons a day is being killed as Mr. Duterte launched his war on illegal drugs. PCIJ said on its web site that about 141 persons a day on average was arrested, based on PNP data from July 1 to 13 alone.
Foolproof plan
IN pushing policemen to accomplish the goal, which the President and PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa believed is doable, Mr. Duterte was making sure the policemen are “foolproof” for the campaign. The President said this could be done if the government ups the officers’ morale and welfare through a promise of increase of, doubling even, their salaries.
After all, the illegal-drugs problem has reached its unprecedented level because of some corrupt and crooked policemen who are on the take from drug lords by acting as coddlers and protectors. Some were even acting as drug dealers themselves.
Dela Rosa said getting the full and direct support of the President in the anticriminality campaign is a great morale booster for the policemen. Receiving an extra pay or having a salary increase counts much more, he added. However, he said, as law enforcers, they are mandated to do their duties without added emoluments.
The PNP chief said the salary increase should prod the organization to work more and perform better. This is the reason I am also aghast every time I learn that a member of the organization is involved in illegal activity, he said.
As the “father” of the PNP, dela Rosa also vowed to take care of the morale and welfare of policemen by providing all of their needs.
“Dapat suklian naman ito,” the PNP chief said of the all-out support of the President to the organization.
Returning favors
DELA Rosa said the salary increase and other kind of support by the President to the PNP should be repaid by the policemen with a renewed sense of dedication to their mandated tasks, higher service to the Filipinos and excellent performance as law enforcers.
President Duterte has promised to increase or implement the doubling of monthly pay of every policeman until December this year.
Early last month, Sen. Alan Peter S. Cayetano filed a measure pushing for the increase in the salaries and other benefits of policemen and other law enforcers.
Cayetano’s bill sought to increase the base pay and allowances of PNP personnel,
allowing a policeman with the rank of Police Officer 1 (PO1), the lowest rank in the PNP, to receive a gross minimum pay of P50,530 (about $1,089.07) a month, inclusive of benefits and allowances.
In contrast, a rookie cop in the New York City Police Department receive a base salary of $41,975 per year, which is roughly P150,000 a month.
Cayetano explained that “police personnel in the country do not receive adequate compensation from the government, despite the risk to their lives brought by their profession.” The senator, who was Mr. Duterte’s running mate in the last election, also said the police force’s low wage “makes them vulnerable to the temptation of corruption.”
The senator noted that a policeman with the rank of PO1 only gets a monthly pay of P14,834. According to Cayetano, that amount is way below the monthly living wage of P27,510 for a family of five set by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.
“It is not enough that we punish and remove corrupt cops from the service,” he said. “Without just compensation, crime and corruption will only seduce what is left of the government’s honest, yet, impoverished police personnel.”
Arroyo bill
A similar bill was also filed before the House of Representatives by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Arroyo’s proposed bill seeks an increase in the salaries of not only policemen, but even members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Arroyo, currently the representative of the Second District of Pampanga, said her House Bill 304 responds to “the call to help the administration to lessen, if not end, the war in the country, as well as the eradication of corruption, drugs and criminality.”
“In order to enhance the general welfare, commitment to service and professionalism of the members of the PNP and the AFP, the monthly take-home pay of its personnel shall be doubled,” Arroyo’s proposed measure reads.
Arroyo said the funds for the salary increase should be taken from the “appropriation for savings” of the PNP and the AFP, with the adjustment to be incorporated later in the national budget.
“The implementation of the Act shall be undertaken in staggered phases, but not to exceed five years taking into consideration the financial position of the national government; provided, that any partial implementation shall be uniform and proportionate for all ranks,” Arroyo’s bill said.
Base pay
UNTIL last year, the base pay of a policeman with a rank of PO1 was P13,492 a month, while a police inspector was receiving P28,839 monthly. On the other hand, a police senior inspector was getting P31,251 a month.
The monthly salaries of policemen only increased this year following the implementation of EO 201, issued by then-President Benigno S. Aquino III on February 19. That EO ordered the implementation of a modified salary schedule for civilian personnel and additional benefits for military and uniformed personnel over a four-year period starting 2016 until 2019.
The first tranche of the monthly provisional allowance for uniformed police personnel ranges from P342 for a PO1, P2,651 for a senior police officer (4, P4,092 for a police inspector and P9,708 for a police chief superintendent.
The hazard pay of policemen also increased to the monthly rate of P390, from the former P240, with subsequent annual increases up to P840 in 2019.
Police officers with ranks of senior superintendent up to director general were also entitled to monthly officers’ allowance ranging from P1,000 to P9,000 in the first tranche of implementation.
To be continued
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/2016/08/21/govt-banks-on-highly-paid-cops-troops-to-clinch-war-for-peace-and-order-in-phl/
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