Teachers renew call for release of COLA

Members of Alliance of Concerned Teachers yesterday renewed their call for the release of the P50 billion payment of back cost of living allowance (COLA) for public school teachers.

William Alterado, a teacher at Abellana National High School, said that it has been a year when the Supreme Court ruled on a similar case that employees of the Philippine Ports Authority, who were in service within the period of July 1, 1989, were entitled to back payments of their COLA and amelioration allowance.

Alterado said that aside from the Supreme Court's decision, Malacañang itself recognized the obligation to pay government employees their back COLA as mirrored in the memorandum issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on September 9, 2005 ordering the Department of Budget and Management to release P1 billion as initial payment for the back COLA of public employees.

However, the Palace, through Secretary to the Cabinet Ricardo Saludo, rescinded the order and said that the memo was meant to study the implications of paying the COLA.

Alterado said that teachers in public schools feel that they are being neglected by the national government because employees in other agencies like the police and military had already been paid.

"About half a million of the teachers are entitled to receive their back COLA and other benefits. Even if in staggered basis, we will accept it but the government has forgotten us. It has been a year since the Supreme Court issued a decision on the PPA case, and besides, our demand is legitimate, we should have been paid what is due us," Alterado said.

Last August 16, he said that the ACT national officials had a dialogue with Department of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus who recognized that there is need to give benefits to teachers such as the increase in their salaries.

With the bill seeking 50 to 100 percent increase in salaries of all employees in the public sector, the teachers are hoping that by October, they could already receive higher salaries.

Dexter Flores, a teacher from Oprra Elementary School, said that if the government will give their back COLA, each teacher would receive about P130,000.

Nationwide, Flores added that the national government has to shell out around P50 billion to pay close to half a million teachers who are entitled to receive their back COLA and amelioration pay.

Flores said the government stopped paying them their COLA since October 12, 1989 upon the implementation of the Republic Act 6758, or the Salary Standardization Law and the issuance of the DBM National Compensation Circular No. 59. However, he added that the government only published it on May 3, 2004.

"Public school teachers who are in service within the period of July 1, 1989 to May 3, 2004 are entitled to back payments of their COLA and similar allowances," he explained. - Wenna A. Berondo