PMA Officer Career and Pay: 2026 Base Pay by Rank
PMA Officer Career and Pay: 2026 Base Pay by Rank
A PMA education leads to a commission as an officer in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Here's what that pays.
How AFP pay works
Soldiers, police, firefighters and jail officers are not on the civilian Salary Grade table. They're paid under the separate Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Base Pay Schedule. Executive Order No. 107 (s. 2025) raises MUP base pay in three steps: 1 January 2026, 1 January 2027 and 1 January 2028. The AFP and PNP share the same schedule, so equivalent ranks earn the same base pay.
2026 monthly base pay by rank
From DBM National Budget Circular No. 600 (first tranche, effective 1 January 2026):
| Rank | 2026 monthly base pay |
|---|---|
| Cadet | ₱40,284 |
| Second Lieutenant / Ensign (PMA graduate's commission) | ₱46,020 |
| First Lieutenant | ₱52,004 |
| Captain | ₱59,411 |
| Major | ₱65,683 |
| Lieutenant Colonel | ₱74,879 |
| Colonel | ₱84,612 |
| Brigadier General | ₱95,611 |
| Major General | ₱108,041 |
| Lieutenant General | ₱131,853 |
| General | ₱157,274 |
Under the next tranche, a Second Lieutenant's base pay rises to ₱48,211 on 1 January 2027.
Allowances on top of base pay
Two allowances apply to all uniformed personnel:
- Subsistence allowance: ₱350 a day
- PERA: ₱2,000 a month
Officers can also receive other allowances and benefits depending on their assignment. These vary, so we haven't listed amounts.
Promotion
Promotion depends on time in grade, performance, qualifications and available positions. The AFP doesn't promote on a fixed timetable, so treat any "rank by year X" table you see online as a rough guess.
Branches
PMA is a tri-service academy: cadets take branch-specific courses in their last two years and are commissioned into the Army or Air Force (as Second Lieutenants) or the Navy (as Ensigns).
Where Super Tutor fits
It starts with the entrance exam. Super Tutor's PMAEE reviewer covers the mathematics, language proficiency and abstract reasoning chapters that map to PMA's coverage, plus PMA-specific chapters on cadet life and career progression, each in 11 study formats with practice quizzes, an AI tutor and a study planner. It doesn't have full PMAEE mock exams. Start free — 5-day trial, no card needed.
What to read next
The PMA entrance exam guide covers the exam. The PMA cadet life guide covers the four years.
Source: Executive Order No. 107 (s. 2025) and DBM National Budget Circular No. 600 (13 January 2026).
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