Palace endorses draft reso granting 100% pay hike for state forces

STATE forces may expect an increase in their respective salaries in 2018 after Malacañang has endorsed a draft Congress' joint resolution adjusting the compensation for military and uniformed personnel (MUP).

The Office of the President approved on September 20 the draft resolution prepared by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that aims to double the base pay of soldiers and policemen.

The draft resolution, if signed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, will benefit a cop with Police Officer (PO) 1 rank; a Private in the Defense department; 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.

A PO1 will enjoy an increase in monthly salary from the current P14,834 to P29,668.

The Provisional and Officers' Allowances will no longer be part of the MUP's compensation since these are granted as an interim measure pending the modification of the base pay schedule.

The DBM, in a statement, said the overall adjustments would result in 58.7 percent average increase in base pay for all MUP ranks, which was proposed to take effect starting January 1, 2018.

The budget department also said the proposed pay hike would cost an additional P63.4 billion

It said funding would be sourced from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund and from any available allotment in the respective budgets of concerned agencies.