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President Rodrigo Duterte is not pampering soldiers and policemen as doubling their salaries could take place starting January next year, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Wednesday.

In a press briefing, the Department of Budget and Management chief said these people "die" for the country.

There were observations that President Rodrigo Duterte has been pampering the police and military whom he promised to pardon if they would be charged and convicted for following his orders, particularly in the campaign against illegal drugs.

Diokno said the Palace is waiting for the approval of a joint resolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives increasing salaries of the men in uniform up to the generals.

“The commitment is to double the salaries of soldiers by January 1, 2018. We are doing everything to follow our commitments. We need a joint resolution from both Houses of Congress to implement this policy decision,” Diokno said.

If the Congress would approve the resolution, this would double the base pay of a Police Officer 1 in the Philippine National Police, a private in the Department of National Defense, and equivalent ranks in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Public Safety College, Philippine Coast Guard, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

A cop with the rank of Police Officer 1 will enjoy a 100 percent increase in monthly base pay from the current P14,834 to P29,668, but high-ranking officials could only have "60 to 70 percent" hike, Diokno said.

Overall, the adjustments will result to a 58.7 percent average increase in base pay for all military and uniformed personnel ranks effective Jan. 1, 2018, DBM said.

This would mean additional cost of P63.4 billion budget from the government, it added.

Under the proposed congressional joint resolution, the increase of the salaries of the uniformed personnel is not indexed to the pension of the retired military and police personnel. Celerina Monte/DMS