Let me tell you about my present rank and pay. Post WW II Peemayers are better off because upon graduation they are commissioned as 2nd Lt with a gold bar. Pre-WW II Peemayers like me were commissioned as 3rd Lt with no bars.
I have been in the service for about 15 months now and am still a 3rd Lt expecting to be a 2nd Lt March 15 next year. My monthly basic pay is P150.00 per month. Pay for teachers is P30.00 per month. without paying any hard currency. I just signed a piece of paper after showing my OSP I.D. card. The bill was sent to the OSP Post Exchange and deducted from my pay by our disbursing O.
However, I also get P40.00 Qtrs allowance and P30.00 per diems per month for being officer of the day several days a month. I am still a bachelor renting a big apartment near PWU at Tenessee St shared with my classmates Alano, Apolinario, Picar as well as Magluyan ’37 and Palencia ’38. I was able to save money to purchase a 1939 Chev apple green coupe for P850.00. Also, P5.00 in your pocket is a lot of money to be able to take your girl for dinner at Tom’s Dixie and a movie after. Yes, those are the golden days of the military when everybody trust us so much. I bought a P200.00 watch at Beck’s (biggest store in Escolta then).