Nationally coordinated protests and activities marked this year’s celebration of the World Teachers’ Day (WTD), as hundreds of teachers and other workers in the education sector gathered on Friday to call on the government to prioritize their welfare – especially in the allocation of resources.

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (MANILA BULLETIN)

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, on the eve of this year’s WTD, celebrated the occasion with the protest activities which aim to “amplify their demand for decent pay and better resource allocation to education and other social services.”

Teachers and other public sector workers held a joint program for substantial pay hike at Mendiola in Manila. Following weeks of mounting “30K” human formations, education workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) also formed the largest human “30K” to date to signify their call for a P30,000 entry-level pay for public school teachers.

The teachers’ group continues to urge President Duterte to “fulfill his promise of raising their salaries.” Aside from increasing to P30,000 the salary for Teacher 1, ACT is also calling for P16,000 Salary Grade (SG) 1 and P31,000 for Instructor I.

Support teachers

 
Meanwhile, the group also called on the Department of Education (DepEd) – particularly Education Secretary Leonor Briones – to give its “full support” to their calls for higher pay hike. Despite Briones’ earlier pronouncement that she supports salary increase for teachers, ACT said that this is “not enough.”

“We feel that her expression of support to our calls for salary increase is nothing but lip service because while she says she supports it, she continues to mention the reasons why not to support it,” said ACT Secretary-General Raymond Basilio in an earlier interview.

Teachers, Basilio explained, “do not feel her [Briones’] presence and support in our fight for higher salary increase.” He added that in the Senate and Congress, increasing salaries of public school teachers are being tackled through numerous bills filed by various legislators “because they recognize the need for it but we feel that DepEd is lukewarm about this.”

Basilio also alleged that “majority of the public school teachers do not support” Briones because “they don’t see her as a ‘mother’ who supports her children in their fight.” Some of them, he said, are calling for the resignation of the DepEd secretary.

For now, Basilio said ACT is not calling for her resignation “but we support the individual sentiments of our teachers and we recognize where they are coming from.”

Outside DepEd’s purview

Meanwhile, DepEd has also been repeatedly asked to act on the salary increase of teachers.

But DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Service and Education Programs Delivery Unit Annalyn Sevilla clarified that the “policy on salary increase is not within the purview of DepEd” since it is a fiscal policy handled by Department of Finance (DOF) and Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

DepEd, Sevilla also noted, “does not decide” if there will be salary increase or none; how much is the amount of salary increase, if any; and who will be given such increase. “DBM has an ongoing study and proposal on this and it will be submitted to Congress/Senate for approval this October,” she said. “It will take effect this January 2020,” she added.

Sevilla also reiterated the earlier statement of Briones that “no one is against salary increase…it just have to be equitable, within means and sustainable.”

In an earlier statement, DepEd said it continuously “provides adequate compensation for the invaluable contribution of teachers in the delivery of quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating basic education for all.”

DepEd takes note of the benefits of teachers such as entry-level teachers (Salary Grade 11) receiving a basic monthly salary of P20,754, with P2,000 worth of Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA), a monthly allowance granted to augment government employee’s pay due to the rising cost of living.

Teachers’ are also entitled to annual benefits that also include clothing allowance in the amount of P6,000; mid-year and year-end bonuses equivalent to one-month salary each; cash gift of P5,000; productivity enhancement incentive (PEI) worth P5,000; performance-based bonus (PBB) which ranges from 50 to 65 percent of the basic monthly salary depending on the school’s performance; and cash/chalk allowance in the amount of P3,500.

DepEd noted that teachers also received proportional vacation pay (PVP) equivalent to 70 days during the summer for those who have rendered full services during the school year, and Christmas vacation pay equivalent to 14 days during the holiday break.

Step increment, DepEd explained, is the increase in salary from “step to step within the salary grade of a position due to length of service.” Teachers are also entitled to receive loyalty cash incentive depending on the number of years in service – starting on the 10th year amounting to P10,000, and P5,000 after every five years.

Other benefits and incentives for teachers also include special hardship allowance for those assigned in hardship posts or those that cannot be reached by regular means of transportation through hiking or banca/motorcycle rides, mobile teachers, and multi-grade teachers; honoraria for those with teaching overload subject to funds availability; and additional incentives/allowances from the local government unit in selected divisions.

DepEd stressed these are on top of the leave privileges, vacation service credits, and social security benefits including GSIS benefits, Retirement and Life Insurance Premiums (RLIP), and PhilHealth benefits (hospitalization, annual physical examination) afforded to teachers.

Teachers served as our second mother,thus it is important to increase their salary to also improved their service. OUR TEACHERS OUR HERO. HELP OUR TEACHERS. BY SIGNING THIS PETITION