Sen. Tulfo suggests higher, expanded combat pay for soldiers: P300 a day is meager

Sen. Raffy Tulfo during a session in the Senate. Senate PRIB file photo / Joseph Vidal

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Raffy Tulfo proposed to increase and expand the coverage of soldiers’ combat duty pay, lamenting that P300 a day is meager.

Tulfo noted that the P300 per day is limited to a maximum of 10 days a month.

He pointed out that this is lower than the sea duty pay and flying duty pay which are 25 percent and 50 percent of the officers’ base pay, respectively.

“‘Yung P300 a day, for me, napakaliit ata nu’n. Hindi ata patas ‘yan compare sa kanyang mga kapatid sa different branch of service,” the senator suggested during the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification, and Reconciliation hearing on Tuesday.

(The P300 a day, for me, is so small. That is not fair compared to the other branches of service.)

“Baka naman pwede nating madagdagan itong P300 [at] pwede sigurong ma-extend na habang siya’y nasa field. Kung siya ay isang buwan nasa field nakikipagbakbakan, dapat isang buwan pumapatak ‘yung metro ng kanyang combat pay,” he added.

(Maybe we can increase it from P300, and maybe we can extend it, covering the whole duration he/she is in the field. For instance, if he/she is in combat for a month, the combat pay should cover the whole month.)

While Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff General Andres Centino said that they “treat all our soldiers equally,” he welcomed Tulfo’s recommendation.

“The initiative of the good senator is a very welcome move, and we will be grateful if this initiative will be passed into a law,” he said.

The Senate panel, chaired by Senator Jinggoy Estrada, is discussing measures that aim to amend Republic Act No. 11907, or the Strengthening Professionalism in the AFP, among others.

JPV