Police’s allowance to increase by 100%

CEBU, Philippines —  The allowance that police officers from the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) receive monthly will soon increase by 100 percent, once the Cebu City Council approves the proposed ordinance supporting the plan.

CCPO Deputy Director for Operations, Police Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, had announced to the police force last Wednesday the future increase.

Cebu City Councilor Philip Zafra, the council’s chairperson for peace and order, has sponsored an ordinance for the increase.

Parilla said the city government is looking at increasing the existing police allowance from P2,500 to P5,000 for the police non-commissioned officers (PNCOs) and also to non-uniform personnel.

Allowance for police officials would vary depending on their rank.

Mayor Michael Rama reportedly promised to include the regional office in the increase during the visit of Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 Regional Director Roderick Augustus Alba.

He said the increase in the police’s allowance is already due, considering the workload of the Cebu City police personnel.

"Every day, we have to do security deployment. Our police, most of the time, have 12-hour shifts with no day off at times. So, it is also high time that the city government increases the allowance," said Parilla.

He said the hike in the allowance would be implemented next year, since the amount for the proposed increase is already included in the 2023 budget.

Meanwhile, Parilla said that Cebu City security escorts would be receiving big bike motorcycles, aside from the 20 XR motorcycles requested by the PRO-7 for crime response.

He said the process for the acquisition of the big bike motorcycles is already ongoing. — Jane Robhe Yara, GAN (FREEMAN)