Go (coco)nuts! Share this story with your friends.
This makes us feel sad and enraged at the same time.
In his InterAksyon.com story, Ernie Reyes wrote: “How much do the fighting men of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and its Special Action Force (SAF) receive in terms of combat and hazard pay? The answer could make you cry.”
Indeed, we wept when we read what Reyes revealed in his story.
The PNP-SAF cops get combat pay of PHP11.17 per day and hazard pay is PHP7.89 per day.
The report noted: “At the Senate hearing on the Mamasapano clash on Tuesday, February 10, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara learned from sacked SAF chief Getulio Napeñas that the fighting men of SAF (on tactical assignments or maneuvers) receive about PHP1,020 quarterly (PHP1020 x 4 quarters = PHP4,080 divided by 365 days = P11.17 daily) as combat pay and PHP240 per month (PHP240 x 12 months = PHP2,880 divided by 365 days = P7.8 daily) as hazard pay.”
Napenas explained that “combat pay is only given to police and military personnel assigned to critical areas or tactical units like the 44 members of SAF 55th Company who died in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.”
The report indicated that “Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Pio Catapang also confirmed that the same amount is also received by military men assigned to tactical units.”
Catapang told Angara that those posted at headquarters don’t get hazard or combat pay.
The encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on Jan 25 left 44 members of the elite Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) dead. The PNP-SAF troopers had been out to capture Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias “Marwan” and Filipino bomb maker Abdulbasit Usman. Both men had bounties on their heads placed by the U.S. government: US$5 million for Marwan and US$1 million for Usman.
The operation turned bloody when members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said they had to fight back because the PNP-SAF had breached their territory. They alleged that they had not been informed about the operation to get Marwan and Usman. The hostile encounter lasted 11 hours. The MILF lost 18 of their fighters.
Both the government and the MILF are doing currently probes on the Mamsapano encounter to determined what went wrong, as the incident threatens the Bangsamoro peace deal.
Photo: Gov.ph
