Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has revealed on Monday a secret to his subordinates: President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to resign if the salary of soldiers and policemen was not raised this year.
During a mass oath-taking of 753 police personnel, who were promoted for battling terrorists in the Marawi City siege, Dela Rosa told his men: “Sabi ni Presidente sa kanyang Gabinete at sa kanyang mga kaibigan sa Congress na if by the end of 2017, if I cannot fulfill my promise to increase, times two, ‘yung sweldo ng pulis at sundalo, magre-resign ako.”
“Hindi n’yo alam ‘yan, ngayon ko lang sasabihin sa inyo. Sinabi talaga ni Presidente na ‘Magre-resign ako dahil wala na akong mukhang ihaharap sa kanila, sinabi ko ‘yan, that was my promise’,” he also said.
Dela Rosa added that towards the end of 2017, Congress and the Cabinet expedited the process so that Duterte could finally deliver on his pledge.
Earlier, however, Mr. Duterte already disclosed to troops during the 82nd Anniversary celebration of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that he would have resigned if the salary increase of policemen and soldiers was not included in the 2018 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“They were in a quandary whether to fast track the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) or yung pay ninyo…,” Duterte said in December 2017.
“’Pag hindi niyo inilusot ‘yan, I will resign as a matter of principle…,” he also recalled before the troops.
READ: Duterte bares untold story behind inclusion of AFP-PNP pay hike in budget
On January 1, Duterte signed Joint Resolution No. 1, granting increase in the base pay of military and uniformed personnel in the government.
Under the resolution, a Police Officer 1 (PO1) would receive P29,668 monthly base pay – a 100 percent increase from the previous P14,834 – starting in the January 15 payroll.
The same resolution provided that an average pay increase of 58.70 percent would be given to all other police ranks.
READ: Cops’ Jan. 15 payroll to reflect up to 100% wage increase
/kga