House approves pay hike for uniformed personnel

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading Malacañang’s proposed Joint Resolution 18, which seeks to increase the basic pay of military and other uniformed personnel (MUP).

Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, appropriations committee chairman, said yesterday the lowest-paid MUP, like a private in the armed forces or an Officer 1 in the police, would receive an increase of more than 100 percent.

Those with higher ranks would get an average adjustment of 58.7 percent.

The term “military and other uniformed personnel” refers to officers and men of the armed forces, the national police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Public Safety College, Philippine Coast Guard, and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

When implemented starting Jan. 1 next year, Nograles said, their basic monthly salary would go up from P14,834 to P29,668.

These adjustments would cost taxpayers P64.24 billion a year, he added.