THE House Committee on Public Order and Safety, chaired by Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, on Tuesday approved with amendments, House Bill 11140, seeking to raise the compulsory age of retirement for officers and non-officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
The bill, primarily authored by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, recommends 57 years as the compulsory retirement age instead of 56, for officer and non-officer personnel of the PNP, as stipulated in Republic Act 6975 or the “Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990.”
Fernandez stressed that extending the retirement age for the PNP personnel will help in law enforcement.
“Ang pagpapalawig ng mandatory retirement age para sa PNP ay makakatulong upang matugunan ang pangangailangan ng ating bansa para sa mga pulisya na may malawak na karanasan sa pagpapatupad ng mga batas,” he said.
Atty. Ricardo Bernabe III, National Police Commission (Napolcom) vice chairperson and executive officer, expressed support for HB 11140, stating that the proposed retirement age would not adversely affect police performance.
The Napolcom conducted a comparative study showing countries like the UK, Vietnam and Australia set the compulsory retirement age for their police at 60. The study also found that the performance of officers in operational policing declines only after reaching that age.
“So, considering that they are just 57, the measure we are proposing, the NAPOLCOM supports this measure considering that the performance of the police would not be affected by this age,” he remarked.
Civil Service Commission director for legal affairs Atty. Christian Molina also conveyed the agency’s support for HB 11140.
“It is noted that the proposed legislative measure is an effort to align the policy framework of the PNP with the AFP, which recently has an amendment to RA 11939, which similarly amended the compulsory retirement age of military personnel from 56 to 57 years old,” he added.
PNP PMGen Edgar Alan Okubo saw the measure as advantageous to the organization.
“This proposal enables the PNP organization to maximize the knowledge and skills of its personnel gained through years of experience and various trainings in the respective fields of specialization,” he said.
The PNP also proposed a provision that would allow uniformed personnel with less than one year of service upon the act’s effectivity date, the option to retire at 56, after which they would be considered compulsorily retired, as an additional amendment.
“The proposed revision will give the retirable personnel, who have less than one year before reaching the age of 56, the option to compulsorily retire at the age of 56 subject to the existing provision of Section 75 which is the retirement benefits of RA 6975,” he noted.
The panel also approved the proposal to include personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in the bill.
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