Arroyo files bill to double the salary of PNP and AFP personnel 

Incumbent Pampanga Representative and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo  has filed a bill to increase the salary of members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Arroyo, who was reelected as Congresswoman of Pampanga’s second district, took up President Rodrigo Duterte on his promise to double the salary of the members of the country's security force.

She filed House Bill No. 304 on June 30, a day before the commencement of the 17th Congress.

In her explanatory note, Arroyo said her proposal is in line with "the call to help the administration to lessen if not end the war in the country, as well as the eradication of corruption, drugs and criminality."

"In order to enhance the general welfare, commitment to service and professionalism of the members of the PNP and AFP, the monthly take home pay of its personnel shall be doubled," the three-page bill stated.

"The detailed schedule of the adjustment in pay shall be done by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)," it added.

The budget is to be taken from the appropriation for savings of the PNP and AFP, and the adjustment will later be incorporated in the regular appropriations in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Arroyo pushed for the pay increase to be staggered within five years of the bill's implementation.

"The implementation of the Act shall be undertaken in staggered phases, but not to exceed five years taking into consideration the financial position of the national government; Provided, that any partial implementation shall be uniform and proportionate for all ranks," her proposal said.

Existing laws and decrees which are inconsistent with the Act shall be repealed or modified accordingly, it added.

Should the bill be passed, an annual report of the implementation will be presented to the Senate President and House Speaker.

The bill also included a clause which recommends a system reform in the hiring and dismissal of PNP and AFP personnel.

"National Police Commission (Napolcom) and AFP shall institute reforms in the system which governs the selection, hiring, appointment, transfer, promotion or dismissal of all personnel and officers," Section 3 of the bill stated.

Duterte on the later part of his campaign vowed to grant a pay increase to the police and soldiers.

Earlier reports said, he was studying a proposal to increase the salaries of police and military personnel up to a minimum of P50,000 a month. — BAP, GMA News