The House of Representatives has approved on second reading House Joint Resolution 18, authorizing the increase in base pay of military and uniformed personnel (MUP) in the government.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Karlo Alexi B. Nograles of Davao City said the measure will modify the existing base pay of around 381,381 military and uniformed personnel nationwide.
If approved by both houses of Congress, the resolution will double the base pay of a police officer (PO) 1 in the Philippine National Police, a private in the Department of National Defense and equivalent ranks in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Public Safety College, Philippine Coast Guard and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.
A PO 1 will enjoy a 100-percent increase in monthly base pay, from the current P14,834 to P29,668, effective on January 1, 2018. The national government will tap P64.24 billion from its coffers to fund the salary hike.
For the other ranks, the increase in base pay will be calibrated, resulting in an average increase of 58.70 percent for all ranks.
“This is in recognition of the critical role of the military and police in maintaining national security and peace and order, as they exercise their duty to ensure the safety of our citizens being exposed to various high-peril environments and life-threatening risks, in the discharge of their functions,” Nograles said.
As to the indexation of the pension of retired military and uniformed personnel with the base pay of those in the active service, Nograles said that, while the Joint Resolution suspends the indexation with respect to the base pay increase, the suspension of indexation will be automatically lifted on January 1, 2019.
“The notable amendment we did on the floor is that the suspension of the pension indexation will now only be up to January 1, 2019, or until a new pension-reform law is passed, whichever comes earlier,” he said.
“This temporary suspension, for a period of about one year, of the application of pension indexation of retired military and uniformed personnel is only in view of its huge financial implication,” he added.