Teachers’ group calls anew for wage hike

MANILA, Philippines — Ahead of Labor Day, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) renewed its calls for a wage hike, urging the government to raise to P50,000 the entry-level salary of teachers.

The government is not as cash-strapped as it wants the public to believe as billions in public funds were used to railroad the proposed Charter change and to intensify military exercises with the United States, ACT said.

“It is not true that the government cannot afford to fund our call for a P50,000 entry-level salary for teachers and P33,000 national minimum wage for all workers,” said ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua.

“Early this year, we saw how billions of public funds were used for the railroading of the proposed Charter change and intensified military exercises with the US instead of granting demands for just and decent salaries and wages and allocating enough funds for education and basic social services,” he added.

In public schools, entry-level teachers receive a minimum of P27,000 monthly, based on the Salary Standardization Law V.

Earnings of 93 percent of the Department of Education (DepEd)’s total teaching personnel are below the P33,000 family living wage and P42,000 monthly cost of living, as computed by the National Economic and Development Authority.

DepEd is currently consulting the World Bank for a policy guide in lobbying for additional salary increases for teachers in the next Salary Standardization Law proposals before Congress.

Education Undersecretary Michael Poa earlier explained that the World Bank study needs to determine whether the current salary of teachers is appropriate and the appropriate amount of increase thereafter.