Albayalde promises speedy benefits to relatives of SAF who died in line of duty

August 23, 2019

Police General Oscar Albayalde on Friday vowed to the families and relatives of fallen heroes of the Special Action Forces that they will fast-track the release of their benefits.

The statement of the head of the Philippine National Police ( PNP) came after parents of a patrolman who drowned during training claim they have not received their benefits.

In an interview with reporters at Taguig City, Albayalde said they will check  with the survivor officer.

“Usually we have a survivor officer there. We will check on the person since we don’t want to add burden to the relatives if they will be the one to fix their benefits,” he said.

“We promise and commit to the relative that we will fast track the claiming of benefits,” he added.

Albayalde said not only members of SAF but all police officers receive benefits.

“Especially those who died in line of duty, in the performance of duty they received through insurance, their savings from PNP and from the Office of the President,” he said.

The PNP chief said all officers receive full benefits but it depends on how much they can get.

“I’m just not sure how much came from the Office of the President. On the PNP, it depends also on how much he saves for his insurance... from us it’s around P300,000 to P400,000,” he said.

Based on their data, since 1987, around 200 SAF troopers sacrificed their lives, with eight were recorded for 2019.

The latest fatality is Police Major Emerson Palomares, a SAF officer, who was allegedly killed by a policeman inside Camp Bagong Diwa Monday afternoon.

Albayalde debunked claims jealousy caused Palomares' death.

“It so unfortunate and we are closely looking into it, on why it happened and why he was allowed when more or less (he is) armed,” said Albayalde.

The PNP chief said these cases are very few compared during their time “because of the level of discipline that we have now in PNP.  Ella Dionisio/DMS