I

Pay hike for teacherc still a proml

President Duterte won't renege
on his commitment, Palace says
l, AymERLnAH.mA pot and AnAYLL 4 OEDUOII€

h,rotests andappeal6'om
ll"r"'g"oup. *ging President
teach- welcomed the opening ol classes in
public schools for Scioot Year (SlO
III A II I I. AffiWBU I. I, E T I TII
F
L
Duterte to-fulfillhis
;;;il;;i,'y:;;;;"
promise" 2019-2020 on Monday.
Members ortheAriance of )9 TrrE NATIPN'S

Pay hike'for teachers...
loncerned Teachers 6CT) Philippines
nd the Teachers' DignitY Coalition
IDC) shared the same sentiment,
aying the government continues to
neglect" the welfare of teachers.
Given this situation, both groups are
alling on the government to address v'lnt
rey described as the "biggest shortage"
reducation - the salary of teachers.
ACT Teachers Party-list Representa-
ves Antonio Tinio and Ftance Castro
kewise called on President Duterte
r fulfill his promise and prioritize the
substantial" salary increase of public
chool teachers and otler government
mployees.
"On the first day of another school
ofpublic
ea4 we join the resounding call
chool teachers and other government
mployees for salary ins€ase," Tinio said
1a statemenl
"Our teachers, education support
€rsonnel, and the rest of the workers
ndemployees in the civil service demand
YesidentDuterte's genuine commitrnent
)r substantial salary increase," he said:
"Tbachers are faced with the same
,ld problems on shortages in cl,assrooms,
acilities and learning naterials yet tley
ontinue to fi.rlf,ll their duty as teachers
ndpmvide ouryouth with the bestquality
ducation t}ley can give," she said-
"It is onlyjust that the staie compen-
ate the dedication ofpublic school teach-
ns with decent salaries that they have
ong been calling fo4" Casho said.
R€sponding the teachers call. Presi-
tential Spokesman Salvador Panelo
laid President Duterte will stay true to
fs promise to increase the salaries of
eachers, who are close to the President's
leart.
"The President isworking on that and
ropeftrlly that can be rcsponded to. Our
rconomic managers are doing everything
o see how thirigs cal be done," he said
"The President has not been reneg-
ng on his commitment but as you all
mow there have been many things that
<1
he added.
knelo €rplainedthatthe Chief B<ecu-
iiie fiIsthad to ins€ase the salary of the
golemrnent brt€s because they are in the
front lines in securing the comtry How-
eve4 he said this does not mean that the
President has forgotben the teachers.
"They (police and soldiers) go out of
iheir homes, half of their fuet are alreaS
buded on the ground. But you must r€-
member that the mother ofthe President
was a teacher and so his heart is with the
teachel" he said"
The Palace official then said that the
President'seconomicteamisnowworking
on fnding the source to ircr€ase the teactl-
ers' salary noting that it cannot be done by
simply issuing an D(eclrtive Order
Pli$lt oft€achers
ACT Philippines opened the new
school year with protests to "shed light
on teachers' plight" as well as on the
-dire condition of the entire education
sector As early as 4 am. Mondaji teach-
ers gathexed at the Mendiola Peace Arc
for the "Almusalang Guro" wherein they
share a '!uny brealdast" to show their
"grim condition due to me€er salaries."
Soon afterl they went to thei respective
schools to oversee activities on the first
day ofclasses.
"Some 800,000 teachers sufier due to
very low pay tlnt is unable to afrord tlem
a decent life," AcT Secretary General
Raymond Basilio. "Such abandonment
of the lrry
baclbone of the public educa-
tion srstemin the counhy vividly reflects
how the state values educatiorl hence our
stance that teachers' salaries is the top
most pressing issue this school opening,"
he added.
To reiterate their long-standing cal
for salary increase, some teachem at the
Boniftcio Memorial Elementary School in
Balintawah Quezon City wore red sashes
and "#TuparinAngPangako" heart pins
duing the flag c€remony In Sla. Lucia
High School in Novaliches, Quezon Cit)l
leachem hung tarpaulins lo register their
,.-d^-r n^'-nhn +^'o.lon'in,.6.(a Ltfar
\
in the afternoon, members ofACT Philitr
pines concluded the day a prolest at the
Mendiola Peace Arc.
I
htmised pay hike
The TDC also reminded the Duterte
adminishation of the promised salaryhike
for teachers. TDC said that ieachexs have
been "anticipating a better compensation
package" after the Arroyo and Aquino
administrations "tied the teachers" to
the salary !o the salary stindardization
law (SSL) - which is a "genexic law that
mandates the salary scale of most of dressed the calls of teachers for salary they will also receive additional Pt,000.
the government employees, including increase. Addibonally DepEd
teachers." She noted that F150 billion is needed Jesus Mateo also no0ed that the depart-
"R€cognizing the inhicacies of gover" by the government to give across the ment has been working on other initia-
nance, our teachers patiently waited for board F10,000 saLary increase for over tives for the welfure of teachers. Such is
the pmmised enhancement ofour salaries 800,000 ieachers. "Malte we need to ask the inerit-based prmotion for teachers
andbenefits,while obvious$ ourbmthers oupeople, thetaxpa)€rs,'arewe rea{r?"' - among others.
and sisters in the uniformed servicc were she asked - sh€ssing the big implication As a r€sponse to tlis, ACT said that
gfu€n priority" Basas said - refening to of salary increase on the national budget Briones is "completely losf'when it comes
the salary increase for military and police and its effects to other programs of the to the "rea.l pUghf' of teachers. "She is
that l,ook effect last January 2018. goverrunent. cle:rly detached frrm reality lbecause]
Basas said thaf "teachers hale been Briones noted t}tat ifthe salaries ofthe her statements spea.k of her embarrass-
waiting for this" since President Duterte teachers will be increase4 thosd of the ing lack of empathy to and shameless
assumed ofrce in 2016 - with incr€ase in other workers' such as the nurses, engi- contempt of teaclrcrs," he added.
salary/of teachers among his promises. neers, lav,yers - among others * should School opening
"The Prcsident on several occasions has be hiked as well. As this develope{ DepEd welcomed
also n€ntioned the said promise to teach-
li
DepEd Undersecretary and Spokes- amund27.2 million le€rners in the formal
ers and will be next after the police and Lprerson Annalyrr Sevilla explained that the hasic education sysiem. DepDd data
military,l'he added" Deparhnent of Budget andManagernent showed that amund 23 million learners
The TDC has been Pushing for the (DBM) has been studlng the salary hoop back to tlte counbry's 47,000 public
enactment of the bill that would grant I increase not only of l,eachers but ofother schools.
F10,000 across-the-board increase ih I
government workers. Mateo said that the number of en-
salaries of govemment teachers, among "DepEd has continuous$ reviewed rollees will still change especially public
other benefrts. While the DepEd is not and pmposed benefits and cash allow- schools are expecting late enrollees.
directh inirolued when it comes to salary ances forteachers," sevilla saict Current$ "Late enncllees are stillalloweduntil third
increaies, mC belieles tlat the depart- she noted that DepEd has been looking week of June onb because the students
menfs "support would surev help." into special bardship allowances for teach- will have a hard time catchhg up with
"Fbr the longest time, our calls forjust ers and forthose who have wor* overload the lessons since we start our lessons in
compensationandtreahnent cornmensu- this yeaq she noied that teachers will be public schools on the first day ofclasses,"
ra0e 0o our role in society have been ne- entitled to tee medical examinations and he added. rWith a report from Cha.rissa
glected by the pevious administrations," come World Tbachers' Day on October 5,
L. Atienza)
ilasas said- Previously TDC also staged
series of protest actions to dramatize
tle socio€conomic sihDtion of teachers
aimedto pr€ssure the goverflrnent to heed
^ ileaotti€ Algw-!/-'
theircalls forhigher salaries. { tq-)
Meanwhile, Education Secretary
Leonor Briones, who attended the flag-
raising ceremony at the Signal V lage
National High School (SVNH$ at Ballecer
sfrpef cAnfral Signal in lbsuis Citc ad-