Police officers march at the Philippine National Police grounds in Camp Crame in Quezon City. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA)
MANILA, Philippines — There’s only one lawyer for every 1,400 police officers, according to Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay, head of the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Baccay made the revelation during Wednesday’s hearing of the House Committee on Justice about a bill seeking to provide free legal assistance to officers and personnel of the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Philippine Coast Guard.
Baccay said there are only 146 lawyers in the PNP Legal Service that could look after the legal needs of 228,685 police officers nationwide.
Clearly, the PNP should create more incentives to attract more lawyers, Cavite 4th District Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said.
As of now, lawyers who choose to work for the police force will automatically earn the rank of captain with a Salary Grade 21 of P56,000, according to Iloilo 5th District Rep. Raul Tupas.
Interjecting Tupas, Barzaga said that relatively meager salary was the reason why lawyers were not attracted to work for the PNP.
“No lawyers would get in because a lawyer will tell us: ‘That’s only my two weeks’ worth of notarization for me.’ That is a small amount, and that’s the truth,” Barzaga said in Filipino.