143 new cops going to war vs Reds penniless Delfin Mallari Jr. Inquirer
November 14, 2006
LUCENA CITY—At least 143 rookie policemen who finished a seven-month basic police training course at the Regional Training School 4 (RTS4) in Camp Nakar here on Friday will be sent to different areas in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) region with nary a single centavo in their pockets.
“We have already finished our training but we have yet to receive our paychecks for the past five months,” some members of the batch disclosed to the Inquirer several days before their graduation.
The graduates, who all requested anonymity, lamented that they would be assigned to different police stations in Calabarzon with empty pockets.
“Most of us are already deep in debt. We no longer know where to get the next meal for our family,” said one of them.
He said 90 percent of the members of their batch are already married and have their own family to support.
He said the last time they received their monthly paycheck was on June 20 when they were given the checks for the months of April, May and June.
A police trainee receives a total of P11,900 every month inclusive of a monthly mesh allowance of P1,800.
The complainants said when they asked the RTS4 finance officer, they were told that their paychecks, for some unclear reasons, were not included in the printing of checks for the last quarter of the year and will only be printed in the first quarter next year.
They said they were told that they could only get their five-month paychecks in March.
“Christmas is just around the corner and we will be in far places of assignment battling all sorts of criminals, including the heavily armed communist rebels, but our minds will be thinking of our hungry families,” said another, with his head shaking in disgust.
President Macapagal-Arroyo’s Executive Order No. 546 makes the police a partner with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the anti-insurgency campaign.
When sought, the concerned RTS4 finance officer was not available yesterday.
However, some officials of the police training school confirmed the non-payment of the rookie cops’ salaries.
“We really pity that batch,” said an RTS4 official, who also requested anonymity.
The official said another batch of 49 police trainees from the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) region will also graduate this week.
“But their salaries have already been paid in full,” the official said.
