MANILA, Philippines — As it gears towards the opening of classes on October, the Department of Education on Monday announced a number of benefits to be made available to public school teachers in the coming months.
During a virtual briefing, DepEd said the government will provide its teachers with an annual medical checkup, an incentive benefit on World Teacher's Day, hazard pay and COVID-19 benefits and packages.
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Health benefits
"Our finance office is preparing for the coming benefits for teachers. In the following month, September, we will release a P400-million budget. This is P500 per teacher for annual medical examination," DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Section 22 of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, or RA 4670, requires that "compulsory medical examination shall be provided free of charge for all teachers before they take up teaching, and shall be repeated not less than once a year during the teacher's professional life."
"Where medical examination show that medical treatment and/or hospitalization is necessary, same shall be provided free by the government entity paying the salary of the teachers," the law adds.
When DepEd in April announced its intention to provide P500 for teachers' medical examinations, the Teacher's Dignity Coalition said that that the cost of such exams can actually go as high as P1,500.
According to Sevilla, the education department is also coordinating with the Employees Compensation Commission, PhilHealth, and the Government Service Insurance System for benefit packages for teachers who may need medical treatment, hosptitalization, in-patient care and COVID-19 testing.
"This is just to make sure, although DepEd doesn't have a fund for this internally, we are coordinating with other agencies who have a mandate to give health services and health support to all government employees, especially to our teachers," the education undersecretary said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Additional pay
Just as it was in 2019, a cash benefit of P1,000 will be given to public school teachers on October 5, World Teacher's Day, which is also the first day of classes per the adjusted school calendar.
According to Sevilla, DepEd is processing the P900 million allocated in the 2020 national budget for the cash benefit.
The undersecretary also cited hazard pay for government employees who report to work in areas under enhanced, or modified enhanced, community quarantine.
"There is also hazard pay under Administrative Order 26, all employees who come to work under ECQ or MECQ is entitled to P500 per day of hazard pay and this is being implemented. So our employees under MECQ or ECQ, if you are asked to report to work, you are elligible for hazard pay of P500 per day," Sevilla said in Filipino.
Most areas in the country are under either a general community quarantine or a modified general community quarantine.
Only Metro Manila and some nearby provinces are currently under MECQ, with President Rodrigo Duterte expected to announce new classifications Monday night.
During a Senate hearing last week, the Department of Education reported that 598 of its teaching and non-teaching staff have contracted COVID-19.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers on Monday said that it has logged at least 11 DepEd personnel who have died of the disease.
Latest data from the Department of Health places the national COVID-19 caseload at 164,474 and fatalities at 2,681.
It has been 153 days since the Philippines was first put under community quarantine — the longest lockdown in the world. — Bella Perez-Rubio