Funds for increased combat pay included in 2017 budget – Diokno

There are funds in the 2017 national budget for the increased combat pay of soldiers and policemen, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said yesterday.

“The recently approved increase in combat duty pay and combat incentive pay shall require an estimated amount of P12.24 billion in 2017,” he said in a letter to The STAR.

He said the money would be taken from the miscellaneous and personnel benefits fund (MPBF) in the budget.

The MPBF is “a special purpose fund dedicated to cover funding deficiencies in authorized salaries and associated benefits of national government personnel,” he added.

President Duterte increased the combat pay of soldiers and policemen from P500 to P3,000 a month effective last September.

Diokno was reacting to a story quoting Arroyo administration budget secretary and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. as saying there were no funds in next year’s budget for the adjusted combat incentive since the 2017 outlay was already with the House of Representatives when Duterte granted the increase.

However, Andaya said there was still time for Congress to include the needed money since the budget for next year has yet to be approved.

Aside from increasing their combat pay, Duterte promised soldiers and policemen to double their salaries next month.

However, Diokno has said there are no funds in this year’s and next year’s budgets to fulfill the President’s promise.

It is estimated that doubling the salaries of uniformed military and police personnel would cost taxpayers about P230 billion a year.

Diokno’s statement about the lack of funds has prompted Duterte critic Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to claim that the President “is a big talker” who makes promises he cannot keep.

The President’s decision to increase the combat pay of soldiers and policemen has prompted public school teachers to ask: “What about us?”

“We are aghast with Secretary Diokno’s pronouncement that our call for substantial salary increase is ‘ambitious’ and that there is no compelling reason for it. It seems that our ‘overworked and underpaid’ status is not yet enough for him,” party-list group Alliance of Concerned Teachers said.

“Another round of salary increase is only ambitious for government officials like him who already enjoy high pay and lucrative benefits but for the common employees like us, this is a need that the government must address,” it said.