DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has asked the local finance committee to incorporate the minimum wage rate budget for around 800 auxiliary police volunteers starting January next year. The auxiliary police, or barangay protection units, will also be given benefits such as Philhealth, Mayor Duterte said.
The order comes around halfway through the year, with the local government deciding to invest in more human assets to protect each barangay. Davao City has 182 barangays. The police auxiliary volunteers are given around P6,000 per month. With the increased allowance, each of the police volunteers could receive from P8,000 to P10,000, based on the currenet provincial rate of around P300 to P400 per day.
The police auxiliaries will have to log in time served of at least five days per week. According to the Davao City Police Office Director Sr. Supt. Alexander Tagum, each barangay will receive around five auxiliary police. The auxiliary police serve as semi-permanent force multipliers deployed to each barangay but are under the direct control of the DCPO.
This is different from a previous arrangement between the city and each barangay council, which Mayor Duterte feared did not follow the same guidelines or mandates that the deployed personnel were supposed to have. (Yas D. Ocampo)