MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV called on the Duterte administration to stop taking credit for the increase in the salaries of the military and policemen, claiming this was due to Executive Order 201 issued by former president Benigno Aquino III on Feb. 19, 2016.
He alleged that the pay increase enjoyed by members of the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines this year represents the second tranche of that order.
The first tranche was for civilian personnel and the allowances of soldiers, like the provisional allowance, officers’ allowance and hazard pay. The mid-year bonus was also included and sourced from the 2016 national budget.
“President Duterte has nothing to do with this. His promise to double the salaries of soldiers and policemen remains an unfulfilled promise,” Trillanes said yesterday.
“Our military and police personnel should be aware that their allowances, together with the salaries of all government employees, have significantly increased since 2016, and will continue to increase until 2019,” he added.
The second tranche kicked in last Jan. 1 while the third and fourth tranches would be implemented in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Under the second tranche, the military, police and other uniformed personnel would receive an increase in their monthly provisional allowance ranging from P547 to P35,260 per month. The officers’ allowance would range from P3,000 to P18,000.
Trillanes raised his point in reaction to a statement issued last week by Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo, AFP public affairs office chief, expressing the military personnel’s gratitude to Duterte for granting the increase in their compensation.
Duterte ordered the pay increase during the 3rd quarter last year and has promised a doubling of pay before his six-year term ends.
But during the congressional deliberations on the 2017 national budget last year, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno admitted that there were no funds to carry out the promised increases in one lump sum.
SOURCE:Phistar
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