Teachers’ group warns of more protest actions over pay

MANILA, Philippines - The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) yesterday expressed dismay over the pronouncements made by the leaders of the House of Representatives and officials of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that there will be no salary increase for public school teachers next year.

The TDC also warned authorities that they would hold more protest actions until the government considers their proposals.

The organization is demanding a P10,000 salary increase for public school teachers.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) is also pushing for increase in entry-level teachers’ salaries to P25,000 a month from the current rate of about P18,000.

TDC chairman Benjo Basas said that in 2008 a bill was filed in the Senate, seeking a P9,000 across the board salary increase for public school teachers.

It was, however, junked by the House in favor of the Salary Standardization Law-3 (SSL-3), which was enacted in 2009, Basas said.

“We want to clarify that our demand for P10,000 pay increase is not meant for this year, because we know that the current budget allocation is based on the legislation last year,” Basas said.

“More so, the said proposal would be divided into three tranches,” he added.

The SSL-3, enforced in 2009, was the latest increase in the teachers’ salaries through legislation, Basas said.

“The current administration only enforced what is mandated by law and just decreed the last two tranches of SSL-3 through executive orders,” he said.

Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, chair of the House committee on basic education, on Tuesday said the salary standardization law governs pay scales and adjustments in the government.

She said Congress could not increase the basic pay of more than 500,000 public school teachers without increasing the salaries of all other government personnel.

Eleazardo Kasilag, president of the Federation of Associations of Private Schools Administrators (FAPSA), said they are losing their students and teachers to public schools due to financial reasons.

He said the salaries of public school teachers are at par or even higher than their counterparts in the private sector.

“We can’t catch up with the public school teacher’s salary. They also have retirement benefits that dwarf what we have in the private schools,” Kasilag said.

Kasilag is pushing for the creation of a Bureau of Private Education, which could help their members avail of the Special Education Fund of each local government unit.