IF approved, the Cebu City Government will only grant allowances to police officers of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) who are residents and voters of the city.
But CCPO Director Senior Supt. Royina Garma said it won’t matter to them either way.
“If they think that is fair, then go. Wala akong pakialam magbigay sila or hindi. Okay lang. May sweldo naman kami (We do have a salary). I don’t care whether they will give or they will totally remove it. Kahit anong gawin nila (They can do whatever they want), we don’t care. We will still work, kaya okay lang (so it’s okay),” she told SunStar Cebu in a phone interview.
Final say
During the budget hearing last Nov. 5, the City’s Peace and Order Program (POP) head Kevin Chester Paz said they proposed the matter, but the decision will still be up to Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
“I manifested that it must be only for those residents and voters only,” Paz said.
When Councilor Margarita Osmeña, who chairs the committee on budget and finance, asked him why he came up with the suggestion, Paz said the granting of allowances is the mayor’s discretion.
At present, the City gives allowances to all police officers who have served the CCPO for at least three months.
Although there is a plan to exclude police officers who do not reside in the city, the POP still proposed a P65-million budget for allowances of peace and order personnel next year.
The amount is higher compared to the approved P58.2-million budget this year.
Paz said this is because the CCPO will have more personnel.
The CCPO currently has 1,282 police officers, but the number is expected to go up to 1,536 police officers next year.
Clarification
The City gives a monthly allowance of P8,000 to the city director, P6,000 to station commanders and P2,500 to police non-commissioned officers.
Apart from the allocation for the peace and order personnel, POP also proposed P2.5 million for allowances of police officers serving in mountain barangays.
During the deliberation last Nov. 5, Councilor Osmeña said the condition set by the POP that only police officers who reside in the city and are voters can receive the allowance seems to apply only to police officers serving in the mountain barangays, but Paz said the condition applies to all CCPO personnel.
City Budget Officer Marietta Gumia said if the condition is approved, it can be included in the budget ordinance.