His Excellency RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
President
Republic of the Philippines

In the name of our youth's education continuity amid the pandemic, we, public school teachers raise our united call for the grant of a monthly internet allowance in the amount of Php1,500 for each public school teacher. We maintain that such demand is highly justified given the following reasons:

1. The conduct of distance learning is vastly reliant on the teacher's constant access to internet connection, regardless of the learning modality employed. We need to be connected to the internet at all times to conduct online classes, communicate with students and parents, access teaching ad learning resources, attend webinars, and hold academic and administrative meetings, among other duties;

2. Communication and internet expenses should be shouldered by the employer, these being critical inputs needed for the disposal of duties under the work-from-home set-up and distance learning, but we as employees have been bearing the considerable costs of cellphone load, internet subscription and higher electric bills since June 2020;

3. Our meager salaries cannot sustain these work-related expenses as we struggle a well to provide for the needs of our families amid the health and economic crises;

4. Internet connectivity is expected to be integral to the teachers’ performance of duties until the end of 2021 at the least, judging from the status of the pandemic the government's vaccination plan, and recent discovery of new virus strains.

Everyday, we strive to contribute in abating the long-term negative impacts of the pandemic to our country  pushing education continuity forward despite difficult odds. As our employer and the primary duty-bearer in the fulfillment of the youth's right to education, we implore the national government to prioritize education delivery in the nation's efforts to fight and recover from the pandemic.