MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a joint resolution of Congress authorizing a pay increase for the military, the police and other uniformed personnel in the government.
Duterte signed Joint Resolution 1 on the first day of 2018 after it was passed by the House of Representatives as House Joint Resolution 18 on Dec. 11, 2017 and adopted by the Senate as an amendment to Senate Joint Resolution 11 on Dec. 13, 2017.
"There is a need to adjust the compensation package of MUP (military and uniformed personnel) in order to make it more commensurate with their critical role in maintaining national security and peace and order, taking into consideration their exposure to high-risk environments in the performance of their duties," the joint resolution signed by Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said.
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Under the joint resolution, a signed copy of which was made available to the media on Tuesday, a private, a fire or jail officer, a police officer and an apprentice seaman or seaman third class would receive a monthly base pay of P29,668 starting Jan. 1, 2018.
A private first class and a seaman second class will receive P30,261 while a corporal, fire or jail officer II, police officer II and seaman first class will receive P30,867 starting the first day of 2018.
A sergeant and a petty officer III will all have a monthly base pay of P31,484 while a staff sergeant, fire or jail officer III, police officer III and petty officer II will get P32,114 by January 1 of this year.
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A technical sergeant in the military and a petty officer will each get a monthly base pay of P32,756. Then, a master sergeant, a senior fire or jail officer 1, a senior police officer and a chief petty officer will have P33,411.
A senior master sergeant, a senior fire or jail officer II, a senior police officer II and a senior chief petty officer will monthly receive P34,079 while a chief master sergeant, a senior fire or jail officer III, a senior police officer III and a master chief petty officer will have a month base pay of P34,761.
A first class master sergeant, a senior fire/jail officer IV, a senior police officer IV and a first master chief petty officer will have a monthly pay of P35,456 in 2018 and P38,366 in 2019.
Under the joint resolution, cadets of the military, the police and the coast guard will receive a monthly base pay of P35,456 as well as a probationary second lieutenant and a probationary ensign. This will increase to P38,366 by 2019.
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A second lieutenant and an ensign will monthly receive P39,356 in 2018 and P43,829 next year. For a first lieutenant, an inspector and a lieutenant junior grade, they will receive a monthly base pay of P43,685 in 2018 and P49,528 in 2019.
A captain, a senior inspector and a lieutenant senior grade will get P49,801 in 2018 and P56,582 in 2019.
A major, a chief inspector and a lieutenant commander will each receive a monthly base pay of P54,799 this year and P62,555 next year.
A lieutenant colonel, a superintendent and a commander will get P61,375 this year and P71,313 in 2019 while a colonel, a senior superintendent and a captain will get P68,740 in 2018 and P80,583 next year.
A brigadier general, a chief superintendent and a commodore will receive a monthly base pay of P76,988 this year and P91,058 next year while a major general, a director and rear admiral will get P86,227 this year and P102,896 next year.
A vice admiral will receive P96,574 this year and P114,235 in 2019 while a lieutenant general, a deputy director general and an admiral will get P108,163 in 2018 and P125,574 next year.
The general of the military and the director general of the police will have monthly salaries of P121,143 this year and P149,785 in 2019.
The indexation of the pension of retired uniformed personnel with the pay of those in active service will be suspended this year pending the review of their current pension system, according to the joint resolution.
This suspension will be automatically lifted by Jan. 1, 2019 or upon the effectivity of a pension reform law, said the resolution which pegged the hazard pay of military and uniformed personnel at P540.