Duterte mulls salary hike for cops, soldiers

MANILA, Philippines - President-elect Rodrigo Duterte intends to double the basic pay of soldiers and policemen, his economic planning secretary-designate Ernesto Pernia said yesterday.

Due to funding constraints, the planned increase would be given in installments, he said in a television interview.

Asked where Duterte would get the necessary funds, which may run into tens of billions of pesos, Pernia said, “I don’t know, but he told us he knows where to source it.”

He said if the salaries of soldiers and policemen are increased, those of other government workers should also be adjusted, resulting in an across-the-board pay hike.

His statement runs counter to the pronouncement of Duterte and other appointees that the envisioned increase would be limited to soldiers and policemen.

Government officials and employees, including uniformed personnel, have just received a new round of salary increase under Executive Order 201, which President Aquino issued on Feb. 19. The increase was effective Jan. 1.

State workers also received a mid-year bonus equivalent to one-month salary.

Aside from the increase in pay, Pernia also proposed streamlining the bureaucracy by offering personnel incentives to retire.

“It will be more economical in the long run than keeping them there but they are not really productive,” he said.

Another member of the incoming Duterte Cabinet, agrarian reform secretary-designate Rafael Mariano, opposed Pernia’s proposal to retrench personnel.

“We should not lay off workers. In the Department of Agrarian Reform, we might even have to hire additional technicians for support services,” Mariano said.

The bureaucracy has about 1.5 million officials and employees. The annual appropriation for salaries is more than P800 billion, or nearly a third of the national budget.

During the time of the late president Corazon Aquino, there were fewer than one million government personnel.

Reshuffle

Meanwhile, 15 ranking police officials were affected by a reshuffle even before the next Philippine National Police (PNP) chief could take over.

Police Director General Ricardo Marquez ordered the reorganization of officers with the rank of chief and senior superintendents.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor said it was part of the regular movement in the police force after some officers retired at the age of 56.

The officials include Chief Supts. Ronald Santos, who was relieved from Southern Tagalog (Region 4) and designated as deputy director of the Civil Security Group; Abad Osit, now the executive officer of the Directorate for Integrated Police Office in the Visayas; Valfrie Tabian, now the officer in charge of Southern Tagalog; Archie Gamboa, now deputy director of Directorate for Logistics; and Lurimer Detran, now deputy director of the directorate for Comptrollership. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Jennifer Rendon, Ric Sapnu