Cops to get pay hike next month

The country’s 112,000 policemen will receive an average 15 percent salary increase effective July 1, a member of the House of Representatives said yesterday.

Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said the increase is the result of the passage of the supplemental budget law, which allots P1.45 billion for Philippine National Police (PNP) wages.

Andaya said policemen with the rank of Police Officer 1 (PO1) to Senior Police Officer 4 (SPO4) will get a 20 percent hike in their base pay while those with the rank of Inspector to Director General will get a 10 percent increase.

The biggest beneficiaries of the adjustment are those with the rank of SPO1 and SPO2 as their take-home pay will be hiked by 22 percent.

Andaya said the P1.45-billion budget allotment covers the second installment of the salary increase of policemen mandated under Republic Act 8551. The law puts the salary of the lowest ranking cop at the level of the lowest paid teacher .

"As a result of the policy, a rookie cop (PO1) will receive a monthly basic salary of P7,164, corresponding to Salary Grade 10 in the government pay scale," he said.

The amount does not include hazard pay, personnel economic relief allowance, quarters pay, subsistence allowance, clothing allowance, to which police officers are entitled.

"While allowances add up to 20 percent of the base pay, these are almost cancelled out by the withheld income tax which the PNP remits to the Bureau of Internal Revenue," Andaya said.

Effective July 1, a cop with a rank of PO2 will have a monthly basic salary of P7,920; PO3, P8,758; SPO1, 9,884; SPO2, P10,482; SPO3, P11,310; and SPO4, P12,122.

In the PNP’s officer corps, those with the rank of Inspector will get a minimum monthly pay of P14,800; Senior Inspector, P15,360; Chief Inspector, P15,976; Superintendent, P16,610; and Senior Superintendent, P17,300.

Those with star rank will have the following pay: chief superintendent, P18,088; director, P18,774; deputy director, P19,600; and director general, P21,640. – Perseus Echeminada