THE senate committee on national defense & security today recommended the immediate passage of a proposed measure seeking to increase the combat duty pay of all enlisted personnel of the armed forces of the Philippines.

    Senator rodolfo biazon, chairman of the senate committee on national defense & security, said that his committee has voted to recommend that the combat duty pay of soldiers be increased to twenty-five per centum of their base pay.

    This means, the senator said, that if the base pay of an enlisted man is P10,000, his combat duty pay would be P2,500 an amount that would greatly augment his monthly income.

    At present, enlisted personnel assigned in combat zones receive a meager amount of 240 pesos a month.

    Meanwhile, defense department officials say that the government needs some 2.6 billion pesos a year to implement said proposal to increase the combat duty pay of soldiers .

    Biazon said senior officers of the AFP are not included in the lists of those to benefit from this proposed law.   [top]