THEY are supposed to be covered by all Philippine National Police rules and regulations although unlike their counterparts in uniform, nobody can really require them to work on Saturdays and Sundays and holidays or work overtime during weekdays, except those assigned to few key PNP offices.

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They are also supposed to follow all policies from the PNP leadership under the pain of disciplinary sanctions but many of them in the past have questioned the punishments imposed to them for their errant behaviors insisting they are covered by Civil Service Commission rules.

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I’m referring to the PNP Non-Uniformed Personnel or NUPs who compose over 10 percent of the entire PNP organization and are covered by the government’s code of ethics and professional conduct, meaning they should also “discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence, and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public interest over personal interest.”

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However, if there are NUPs who really live a modest life and could send their kids to exclusive schools and have their own house-and-lot and SUVs and other motor vehicles, they are greatly outnumbered by their peers who could barely scrape a living, some of them still ‘poor Juan and Juana de la Cruzes’ after more than 30 years of service in the PNP.

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Blame it to their lack of educational attainment which prohibits them from getting a promotion. Thus, a poor PNP camp sweeper, utility man or garbage truck crew will retire at the age of 65 without getting the much-needed salary raise since he won’t get an ideal salary grade improvement even if he is known for his hard work and dedication to duty.

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Then there are also hundreds of Job Order or Contract of Service (COS) or Contractual Workers in the PNP who, since January 1, 2019 are supposedly to get salaries equivalent to the daily wage of comparable positions in the government and a premium of up to 20 percent of their salary as announced that year by the Department of Budget and Management and the CSC. The premium may be paid monthly, in lump sum or in tranches.

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Supposed to be, COS and Job Order workers in the government should not be made to perform functions which are part of the job description of the Agency’s existing regular employees or the NUPs.

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The government clarified the nature of COS and Job Order or ‘pakyaw’ personnel in order to address issues on the lack of social protection of these workers and inequality in benefits and the latter’s obscure accountability due to lack of employee-employer relationship with the hiring agency.

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I’m bringing this to light amid so many cases of ‘non-uniformed personnel’ in the PNP who retired at the age of 65 without getting additional benefits due them after they have spent more than half of their lives serving the organization.

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While life may be good for NUPs who have a high Salary Grade in the PNP as long as they retire still health at the age of 65, the same cannot be said on their counterparts, say those from the PNP Headquarters Support Service headed by a hardworking and disciplinarian from PMA ‘Bigkis Lahi’ Class of 1999, Brigadier General Ato Bisnar.

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The problem has prompted officials to propose the strengthening of the HSS non-uniformed personnel who are mostly involved in special services like maintaining cleanliness in the camp.

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I found out that of 110 of the 124 authorized NUP in the PNP-HSS do multi-tasking since the pandemic hit the country in March last year, thus a recommendation to ‘absorb’ the current 31 ‘Strikers’ or janitors/utility personnel who will occupy positions which are deemed menial in nature.

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The present staffing pattern of NUP in the PNP in general actually limit the individual advancement, the career growth of the NUPs resulting in their non-promotion particularly those occupying plantilla positions, I was told.

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A case in point is the presence of NUPs including utility workers in the HSS who, after serving the force for 38,33,25, 22, 19 or 17-years retired with the same Salary Grade as in their original appointment. It means that a utility worker who got the Salary Grade 1 when she was hired in 2000 retired in 2017 with the same Salary Grade from Day 1 of her employment.

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The same is true with the others who retired with the same Salary Grade after serving the PNP just like a utility worker from 1979 to 2017; a pipefitter/foreman from 1988 to date; or a utility worker from 1988 to 2018.

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Right now, I believe there is a need to ‘restudy/rethink’ the NUP staffing pattern and pave the way for the career path promotion of deserving skilled workers, utility personnel and the like in the PNP. I can’t imagine life in the PNP without these civilians.

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CALLING ANTIPOLO CITY MAYOR

On a personal note, i want to congratulate the Antipolo City local government for a job well done in handling the COVID-19 pandemic since March last year.

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Many friends living outside the city have told me they envy us for having a Mayor Andeng Ynares and her hubby, ‘Mayor’ Jun Ynares III for their honest-to-goodness vaccination program and their effort to address the further spread of the virus.

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However, my friends including some ‘balikbayans’ told me that it seems to be that the city government has forgotten to light up the ‘Tayo na sa Antipolo’ arc at the boundary of Antipolo City and Taytay.

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At night, the sign which should be Antipolo City’s pride as it welcomes guests to the Pilgrimage Capital of the Philippines is a sorry sight, it’s really dark out there and you can hardly see the arc and the much revered Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage or the Virgen de Antipolo unless you’re already familiar with it. I have learned that what my friends are saying is really true when i decided to pass thru the area every night since last March.

I just hope that Mayor Ynares would light up that arc immediately and make us really proud to say ‘Tayo na sa Antipolo.’