‘Senate backs pay hike for the military’

The proposed law increasing the rate of base pay of officers and enlisted men of the Armed Forces is now slated for second reading, Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said.

Senate Bill No. 2086, under Committee Report No. 36, aims to make the salaries of soldiers at par with their police counterparts, he said.

The measure is a consolidation of Senate Bill Nos. 183, 1863, 2019 and 2020 filed by Senators Magsaysay, Gregorio Honasan, Noli de Castro and Renato Cayetano, and Rodolfo Biazon, respectively.

Senate President Franklin Drilon has committed the speedy passage of the measure.

In his sponsorship speech, Magsaysay said a soldier risks his life and limb in defense of the country’s freedom and sovereignty yet his efforts are rewarded meagerly.

"Filipino soldiers are among the lowest-paid employees of the government, working round-the-clock without overtime pay and rendering duties on weekends and holidays away from the comfort of their homes and the solace of their families," he said.

He said soldiers last received an increase in their base pay in November 1987 or 15 years ago. "Given the continuing peso depreciation, it is a sad fact that many of our enlisted men are unable to send their children to school, over half of them do not have their own homes, and 15 percent live in slum areas," he said.

Magsaysay also lamented that the country has an "aging army." At present, the national average age of Filipino soldiers is 34.

He added that there is a dwindling resource of professional and skilled recruits, and he attributed this partly to the low salary package offered to soldiers.

The lowest-ranked policeman receives a salary of P7,164. The lowest-ranked soldier, on the other hand, receives a meager P5,775.

The discrepancy constitutes 2.05 percent (P1,389) which will further swell to nine percent (P2,830) when another increase is implemented in July this year, and to 72.10 percent (P4,164) when fully carried out next year.