The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is asking Congress for an additional P24 million on top of its proposed P61.66 billion budget for 2009 to avoid the disruption of the mandatory training and career advancement of police officers up for promotion next year.
The request by DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno, which was coursed through Sen. Edgardo Angara, was made during the plenary debates of the proposed 2009 DILG budget in the Senate.
Angara, who defended on the floor the DILG’s budget plan for 2009, said that the additional fund request was necessary for leasing facilities that will be used by the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) for its temporary transfer on Feb. 4 next year from its location in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig to an educational institution in Laguna.
The PPSC, an attached agency of the DILG, provides for the training, human resource development and continuing education of personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).
This college provides training each year to about 27,000 police personnel nationwide, about 4,000 of whom are trained in its facility in Fort Bonifacio.
Among the courses it offers is the Officers Senior Executive Course, which is a mandatory requirement for third-level PNP officers up for promotion to the next higher ranks.
Puno explained that adelay in the transfer of the PPSC from Fort Bonifacio to a temporary facility pending the completion of its new building in Silang, Cavite would disrupt its operations and set back the promotions of PNP officers next year.
A similar observation was made by Sen. Benigno Aquino III, who chairs the Senate committee on local government, during the plenary debates on the DILG budget.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., a former DILG chief and lead author of the Local Government Code, supported the DILG’s request, saying that he would propose necessary amendments to source the P24 million additional funding for the PPSC to ensure the smooth flow of its operations next year.
He pointed that “if the functioning of the PPSC is delayed even for a few months, then this will have serious repercussions on the promotions of officers within the PNP, which could lead to demoralization among its ranks.”
The PPSC was asked to transfer by Feb. 4 to a new location only last month, or long after the DILG had already presented its proposed budget for 2009 to Congress.
The PPSC sits on a property owned by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and the National Police Commission (Napolcom), which plan to put up a high-rise building on the site next year.
The DILG, Puno said, has already found a new location for the PPSC in Silang, Cavite, but the construction of its facilities has yet to be completed.
In the meantime, the PPSC is planning to temporarily transfer to the St. James Academy in Calamba, Laguna by February, but it has no budget to lease the building and its facilities, which requires P2 million a month or P24 million for one year.
The DILG is seeking congressional approval of its Malacañang-proposed budget for 2009 amounting to P61.66 billion to sustain its ongoing initiatives on enhancing local autonomy, improving the crime solution efficiency rate, and modernizing the country’s jail management and fire protection services.
Puno said the Department’s 2009 budget proposal covers allocations for the 10% salary hike of DILG employees; creation of 3,000 new positions in the PNP, another 500 in the BJMP, and 500 more in the BFP; increased benefits for the PNP; and adjustments in the subsistence allowance and hazard pay of uniformed personnel.
In terms of agency, the DILG has proposed appropriations for the Office of the Secretary totaling P1.84 billion; for the BFP, P6.58 billion; BJMP, P4.16 billion; Local Government Academy (LGA), P84.06 million; Napolcom, P1.07 billion; PPSC, P865.78 million, and PNP, P47.05 billion.
Next year’s budget plan is P8.42 billion or 16% higher than the 2008 budget of P53.24 billion.
The DILG has allotted P50.2 billion for personal services under its proposed 2009 budget; P364.92 million for maintenance and other operating expenses, and P3.46 billion for capital outlay, Puno said.
Punp sqid the proposed capital outlay will be used for the acquisition of 100 new fire trucks and other firefighting gear and equipment for the BFP; and construction of new jail facilities and offices; procurement of prisoners’ vans, gas masks and firearms for the BJMP.
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