DILG Budget Rises by 44 Percent on Puno's Watch

September 4, 2009

The budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government has gone up 44%  on the watch of Secretary Ronnie Puno from P43.681 billion in 2006 to P62.937 billion this year, enabling the DILG to hire more policemen and public safety officers, procure additional equipment to better maintain peace and order, and increase the salaries and pensions of its rank-and-file.

From P35.196 billion in Jan. 2006, or before Puno took over as DILG chief, the budget of the Philippine National Police (PNP) increased 34.3% to P47.268 billion in 2009; the appropriations for the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) rose from P3.66 billion to P6,824 billion, representing an 86.1% jump; while that of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) rose even higher at 86.6% from P2.246 billion to P4.192 billion, official data show. 

These dramatic budget increases enabled the DILG to partly fill the acute shortage of law enforcement and public safety personnel with the hiring of more than 15,000 policemen, 1,272 more fire officers and 1,500 additional jail officers.   In her State-of-the-Nation Address, President Arroyo had asked Congress to, among others, fund the hiring of more cops on the streets.

The PNP has been recruiting an average of 3,000 new policemen and policewomen each year since Puno, who is concurrent chairman of the National Police Commission (Napolcom), was reappointed DILG secretary in 2006. 

From 111,638 policemen in 2006, the number of PNP uniformed personnel will increase to 127,234 in 2009, or an addition of 15,596 more police officers to help maintain peace and order, while fire officers numbering 14,376 will rise to 15,648 this year.   The number of jail officers to secure the country’s district, municipal and city jails will increase from 7,399 in 2006 to 8,899 this year.  

In terms of logistics, the PNP was able to procure 2,445 additional patrol cars and 28 patrol boats to increase its mobility and visibility, while the BFP was able to beef up its fleet to 1,790 fire trucks this year to help improve its firefighting capability.   In the BJMP, the number of prisoner vans increased 158% from 134 in 2006 to 346 this year. 

As for pay increases, a Local Government Operations Officer V in the DILG who was receiving a basic salary of P17,799 in 2006  is now getting P25,295, which means a 42.1% hike; while entry-level  uniformed personnel (police, fire and jail officers I) are now getting  P10,808 a month, from P8,605 in 2006 representing a 25.6% increase. 

A jail or fire chief inspector with a salary of P17,246 a month got a 41% pay increase, which means he is now receiving P24,202.   In the BFP alone, the budget for salaries and allowances increased from P3.528 billion in 2006 to P4.93 billion in 2009.

As for pensions, a Jail or Fire Officer II (under Republic Act 1616) who was receiving P7,108 a month in pension benefits in 2006 is now getting P9,668.  Jail and Fire Officers III who are regular pensioners were receiving P84,56 in 2006, but are now getting P11,949 a month