SAME struggle, different day. Public-school teachers could be in another school year of no pay hike, as the economic team has yet to find a funding source for an increase in the salaries of the country’s educators.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and Presidential Spokesman Salvador S. Panelo on Monday said his principal has yet to decide whether to increase the pay rate of teachers. He said President Duterte is awaiting the recommendation of his economic team, who have been strongly opposed to raising the salaries of public- school teachers.
“Hopefully, that [issue] can be responded to by our economic managers, who are doing everything to see how things can be done,” Panelo said in a news briefing.
Malacañang’s statement came on the day public schools opened another academic year with about 800,000 teachers in need of a pay hike, according to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers. ACT Secretary-General Raymond Basilio said hundreds of thousands of educators continue to suffer from low pay and are unable to afford a decent life.
“Such abandonment of the very backbone of the public education system in the country vividly reflects how the state values education; hence, our stance that teachers’ salaries is the top most pressing issue this school opening,” Basilio argued in a statement.
Figures provided by ACT reported the salary of Teacher 1 is at P20,754 and that of Teacher 2 is at P22,938. The group said this is short of the family living wage of P23,660, the barest minimum according to think tank IBON Foundation.
And the teachers cannot be blamed, as one of the President’s campaign promises is to augment the salaries of educators based in public schools, ACT pointed out.
However, this proposal was easily rejected by his economic managers, who have been opposed to a number of welfare programs of the Duterte administration, such as the free tuition in state universities and colleges. Three school years later since Duterte took power, teachers have yet to reap his promise of a pay hike.
Still committed
“The President is not leaving on his commitment. There have been many things that hurdled [his administration] during the [first] three years [of his] term. The President had to increase the salaries of soldiers and policemen, as they are in the frontlines of securing peace and security,” Panelo explained.
He confirmed the economic team has yet to find a funding source for a salary increase of teachers, but said efforts are underway upon the Chief Executive’s direct orders. Panelo said Malacañang is open to hosting a dialogue between the President and public-school teachers.
“I don’t know where they will get the funds [for a pay hike], but they are looking for possible sources,” the Palace official confirmed.
The ACT, for its part, is challenging the President to issue an executive order ordering the salary increase of teachers if he really is committed to such promise. However, Panelo was quick to dismiss this demand, saying government programs must have a proper budget first before they are implemented.