Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), expressed gratitude to President Duterte on Tuesday, July 27, for pushing in the final year of his term two priority bills that will benefit the organization's 220,000-strong personnel.

In his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday night, Duterte urged the Congress to pass a law that would institutionalize the provision of a free legal assistance to both the military and the police personnel who are facing work-related charges.

"Malaki ang maitutulong nito sa amin lalo na sa mga pulis na walang kakayahang magbayad ng abogado (This will be a big help to PNP personnel who cannot afford to pay for their own lawyer)," Eleazar said.

Duterte also asked the Congress to pass a legislation that would reform and unify the pension system of all uniformed personnel.

"Lubos ang ating pasalamat sa malasakit ng ating mahal na Pangulo na tinitiyak ang sapat at tamang benepisyo para sa mga miyembro ng unipormadong serbisyo (We really thanked the President for his concern to us, ensuring that the members of the uniformed service will get the right benefits)," the PNP Chief said.

In 2018, Duterte approved a joint resolution from the Congress which modified and raised the base pay of police, military and other uniformed service personnel.

"Our armed forces were ill-equipped to deal with internal and external threats, while the police force had been overwhelmed by criminality and the drug trade problem," Duterte said.

"This is why I made it a priority to strengthen the institution and boost the morale of the men and women of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police, and other armed services," he added.

For his part, Eleazar assured that the PNP would participate in discussions on the proposed legislations before the Congress.