Higher salary, benefits for cops and soldiers should go hand-in-hand with hardware modernization

Former PNP Director General Panfilo "Ping" Lacson the other day said improvement of the living conditions of the police and military personnel should go hand-in-hand with hardware modernization of the National Police and the Armed Forces.

In a statement, Lacson bemoaned that poverty remains as the primary reason why some police and military personnel have resorted to illegal activities which in turn have tremendously eroded the people’s trust in the two institutions.

"The desire to provide a decent life for their families and the fact that their meager salaries can in no way achieve this for them forced some of our police and military personnel to betray their sworn duty. It is our desire to change this," said Lacson who is running for senator under the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino.

Lacson said the government should not only concentrate on equipment or hardware modernization but on the upliftment of the living conditions of police and military personnel in order to stem corruption and further improve the performance of the country’s peace keepers.

"In other countries, wile cops and military people do not necessarily bring home a fortune, they still live far more decent lives than their counterparts here in the Philippines. And at the same time, their governments also invest in hardware. Both can go hand in hand, not all funds should go to the hardware," he added.

Lacson said he would push for the increase in salaries and benefits of police and military personnel if elected to the Senate, subsidized housings, and free tertiary education for their children. He noted that many men in uniform do not even have houses of their own and cannot even afford to send their children to school.

Pushing for the upliftment of the living conditions of the men in uniform was one of the unfinished thrusts of Lacson as PNP chief.

"Government can always have Inept, Corrupt and Undisciplined (ICUs) charged or dismissed but it will not completely stop corruption. A lasting solution would be to uplift the living conditions of our police and military personnel," Lacson said.

Under Lacson’s watch, a top to bottom reform of the PNP and efficient crime solution efforts resulted in improved public confidence in the police.