Minimum pay for cops may be raised to P50,000 under Duterte admin

DAVAO CITY – The Duterte administration’s plan to double the salaries of policemen could raise the minimum pay of law enforcers to P50,000, Sen. Alan Cayetano said.

Cayetano said he has submitted to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte a study containing the pay hike scheme, which would cost the government an additional P50 billion.

“We want to double the salary of the PNP (Philippine National Police). For now, (the minimum pay of policemen) is P14,800 plus a little bit of allowance so they get about P20,000,” the senator said in a chance interview last Sunday.

“Based on our computations, for an additional P50 billion, we can give a minimum of P50,000. That would be the lowest pay,” he added.

Cayetano said the scheme would raise the salaries of all policemen, with generals expected to receive more than P100,000 per month.

The senator said the additional pay may be sourced from the P350 billion to P400 billion unprogrammed funds in next year’s budget.

“It's very doable. If we have a supportive House of Representatives and Senate, we have the money and as early as before Christmas, we can give it to our policemen,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano said the cost of living in Metro Manila costs about P35,000 per month. He said the P50,000 minimum pay would allow a policeman to support a family of three children.

“We can raise the base pay or we can raise their allowance,” Cayetano said.

“What is important to us is for them to take home a minimum of P35,000 to P40,000 because the P50,000 (minimum pay) would still be subjected to taxes,” he added.

Pay hike for soldiers

Cayetano, however, admitted that the salary adjustment for soldiers would not be that simple because a higher base pay would lead to higher pension requirements. 

“We're now doing the computations for the military,” he said.

“Hopefully in a year and a half or two years, we can also raise the salaries of other workers in government. But for now, our focus is on the police and military.” 

Under Presidential Decree 1638 issued by the late President Ferdinand Marcos, an officer or enlisted personnel shall retire from the service upon reaching the age of 56.

The law also states that the retirees’ benefits should increase whenever the salaries of active soldiers are raised. While the provision is favorable to retirees, it has become a source of concern for economic managers who are wary of its impact in the long term. 

The Budget department has warned that the bloating of pension requirements could lead to a crisis.

According to the agency, the military’s pension benefit requirements would amount to P67 billion this year and would overtake the projected personal services requirements for active soldiers that amount to P63.7 billion.

Budget department data also showed that the combined pension requirements of military, police and other uniformed personnel would more than double to P111 billion this year from the proposed outlay of P52 billion for 2012.