Aquino okays more allowance for lawmen

President Benigno Aquino III signed last week a joint House Resolution increasing subsistence allowance of Uniformed Personnel from P90 to P150 per day.

Baguio Rep. Nicasio M. Aliping, Jr. was one of authors of the joint resolution filed  December 14, 2014.

Aliping said the resolution was filed because the current allowance of our uniformed personnel is “no longer adequate to meet the basic needs of Filipino military soldiers and uniformed personnel in view of the increasing prices of commodities”.

The increased allowance is for all officers, enlisted personnel, candidate soldiers, probationary second lieutenants, cadets and civilian active auxiliaries of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, commissioned and non-commissioned personnel of the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, cadets of the Philippine National Police Academy, Philippine Coast Guard, including candidate coast guard men, and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).

Aliping said that the “amount necessary to implement the provisions of the resolution shall be charged against the savings of the DND (Department of National Defense), DOTC (Department of Transportation and Communications), DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government), and DENR-NAMRIA (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) for the current year and/or the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund.”

In the succeeding years, however, Aliping a member of committee on appropriations said that the amount shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

In an earlier statement, Aliping said that this increased subsistence allowance “is one way of dispelling the notion that ‘government work entails a financial sacrifice brought about by low salaries and allowances,’ especially among our law enforcers.”