Manila: Veteran police officers, firefighters, and jail personnel may soon get an additional year in government service under proposals seeking to retain experienced uniformed personnel longer and give them more time to pass on their expertise to younger officers. Senator Panfilo Lacson said Thursday he filed Senate Bills (SB) 2395 and 2396 proposing to raise the compulsory retirement age of uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) from 56 to 57.

According to Philippines News Agency, Lacson stated that SB 2395 aims to increase the retirement age of PNP members to 57 years old. This change intends to give PNP leadership more time to implement institutional reforms and to maximize the knowledge and skills of their personnel. For the BJMP and BFP, Lacson noted that retaining senior officers for another year would allow these bureaus to benefit further from their leadership and institutional knowledge, while also providing more time to pass on these skills to younger officers.

The proposed adjustment would align the compulsory retirement age of these three uniformed services with that of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Lacson, who served as PNP chief from 1999 to 2001, highlighted that the police force currently has 230,410 uniformed personnel, while the BJMP and BFP have 26,000 and 41,286 personnel, respectively.

SB 2395 includes a provision allowing PNP personnel with less than one year in service upon the measure's effectivity to opt for retirement at 56 and still be considered compulsorily retired. However, the incumbent PNP chief would continue to be subject to compulsory retirement at age 56. Under SB 2396, officers of the BJMP or BFP with the rank of chief superintendent, director, or deputy director general may be retained in service for an unextendible period of one year.