COA: PNP gets pay hike despite missed targets

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the Philippine National Police falling short of its 2018 targets, the salaries of its personnel nearly doubled in the past year, the Commission on Audit (COA) bared in its annual audit report.

The PNP managed to arrest only 19.37 percent of the most wanted persons on its list, despite an earlier target of at least 51.57 percent. And yet, the salaries and wages of its personnel spiked from P41.9 billion in 2017, to P74.7 billion in 2018, the COA reported.

The same report showed that the PNP fell short of its 60-percent target to arrest persons with outstanding warrants within 30 days of receipt of their warrants, and managed to reach only 34.70 percent of such timely arrests.

In terms of crime investigations undertaken, the PNP reached only 464,661 of its 522,301 target.

Despite the less than stellar performance and thanks to the implementation of the third tranche of Executive Order No. 2, which granted additional benefits for all PNP personnel, the COA said the combined salaries and wages of PNP personnel rose by P32.73 billion in 2018.