PNP defers release of 13th month pay for cops with pending cases

MANILA, Philippines—No early Christmas for policemen with pending cases.

As police officers cheered the release of their yearend bonus, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it would defer the 13th month pay for its personnel with pending administrative and criminal cases.

“As a disciplinary policy, release of the 13th month pay to PNP personnel with pending administrative and criminal cases is deferred,” PNP Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome said in a statement.

PNP spokesperson, Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., said those with pending cases would only receive their bonus “upon clearance” of their cases, per civil service rules.

The PNP has started releasing checks for the second tranche of the yearend bonus for some 140,000 active police personnel.

In a report to Bartolome, police comptroller Director Rey Lañada said continuous form checks drawn from the PNP account with the Land Bank of the Philippines had been released by the PNP Finance Service to police regional offices and national support units through the Regional Finance Service Offices nationwide.

The Department of Budget and Management earlier approved a P1.733-billion allotment for the yearend bonus of PNP personnel.

The yearend bonus represents half of the 13th month pay and other cash benefits mandated by law for all government workers. The first tranche was released by the PNP in May.