Senator Loren Legarda on Wednesday hailed the approval of the measure authorizing the increase in the base pay of military and uniformed personnel in the government and ensured that it is funded under the 2018 national budget.
Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance and co-sponsor of the said measure, said that under the 2018 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), which had been ratified by both houses of Congress, Php62.8 Billion has been allocated under the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) for the increase in the base pay of military and uniformed personnel.
“This is good news for our soldiers, policemen and other uniformed personnel in the government because starting next year they will receive the long overdue salary increase that they deserve,” said Legarda, a reserve officer in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The base pay schedule of military and uniformed personnel was last increased eight years ago.
“We cannot overemphasize the value of the arduous mission our soldiers and policemen have to undertake in order to maintain peace and order by protecting the people and the State from lawless violence, invasion, rebellion, terrorist acts and other activities that might affect public safety and bring harm to the independence of our nation. It is about time that their base pay is increased to better compensate for the hazards they face in the course of performing their duties,” she added.
The modified base pay schedule will apply to all military personnel under the Department of National Defense (DND) and uniformed personnel under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).
“While our soldiers, policemen and other uniformed personnel in the government perform their noble duty to protect our nation and ensure that our people are safe, we must also fulfill our part to protect them and their families by ensuring that their most basic and pressing needs are addressed through adequate remuneration,” Legarda concluded. | Senate-PR
