Teachers welcome suspension of government incentive system

MANILA, Philippines — Public school teachers welcomed the suspension of the government’s Results-Based Performance Management System (RBPMS) and Performance-Based Incentive (PBI) System, noting how they have long been decrying the performance system as an additional burden that “does little to improve education quality.”

While the Alliance of Concerned Teachers-National Capital Region (ACT-NCR) Union welcomed President
 Marcos’ decision to suspend the performance system, the group reiterated its call to scrap the “burdensome” evaluation altogether.

“We laud President Marcos’ move to review the RPMS as this has been a major source of stress and unnecessary workload for teachers after a school year,” ACT-NCR Union president Ruby Bernardo said.

“We continue to call on the government to repeal this RPMS completely. It has long been wringing out our teachers’ time, energy and resources. We also call for the scrapping of the PBI. This scheme has proven to be delayed, deceptive, discriminatory and divisive. We are also calling for substantial wages and fair benefits across the board,” Bernardo added.

Stressing how the RBPMS and PBI System “have been duplicative” and “redundant” with the government’s internal and external performance audit and evaluation systems, Marcos issued Executive Order 61 that aims to harmonize the two.

EO 61 will streamline the government performance management and incentives system and align it with ease of doing business initiatives and international standards, as Malacañang noted how the current systems lacked a review mechanism, leading to the accumulation of rules, regulations and issuances from the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Harmonization of National Government Performance Monitoring, Information and Reporting Systems.

Bernardo, a public school teacher from Quezon City, emphasized that the RPMS and other similar policies have only increased teachers’ paperwork requirements without providing meaningful support or incentives for their professional growth and development.

“Instead of wasting time and resources on these empty and burdensome bureaucratic exercises, the government should focus on providing substantial salary increases and better working conditions for teachers,” she said.

The ACT-NCR Union leader also called on Marcos to engage with the union and the ACT Philippines in crafting appraisal mechanisms that give justice to the teaching profession.

“We urge the President to listen to the voices of teachers on the ground and work closely with our unions and organizations,” Bernardo said.