2026 budget: Ejercito seeks double subsistence allowance for uniformed personnel
At A Glance
- The adjustment is bound to benefit around 330,000 uniformed personnel, helping them cope with rising costs of living while recognizing their vital role in ensuring public safety.
Senate Deputy Majority Leader Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito moved to increase the daily subsistence allowance for the country’s uniformed personnel to P350, which is more than double the previous rate of P150.
The proposed adjustment was incorporated into the recommendations of the finance subcommittee chaired by Ejercito.
This adjustment is bound to benefit around 330,000 uniformed personnel, helping them cope with rising costs of living while recognizing their vital role in ensuring public safety.
Ejercito pointed out that uniformed personnel perform high-risk duties in difficult and often dangerous conditions, yet continue to receive modest benefits.
“We’ve seen them struggling to make ends meet with their daily food allowance. It is very small compared to the sacrifices and services they have given to protect us,” said Ejercito, Vice Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance.
“This increase will not only help our uniformed personnel meet daily needs, but also boost morale and professionalize our public safety workforce,” he added.
“Many of them work in high-risk conditions but lack the benefits and social protection they deserve. For example, our Coast Guard who regularly patrol and face great danger to monitor and strengthen our maritime security. Hopefully this will help them and their families,” he further stressed.
The proposal, totaling around P23-billion, covers personnel under the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC).
During the continuation of the Senate’s 2026 national budget deliberations, Ejercito sponsored the budgets for these agencies, proposing the following allocations:
• P16.05 B – Philippine National Police
• P2.76 B – Philippine Coast Guard
• P2.76 B – Bureau of Fire Protection
• P1.81 B– Bureau of Jail Management and Penology
• P14.60 M – Philippine Public Safety College