MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has assured all teachers and personnel of the restoration of their P4,000 net take home pay (NTHP) despite claims against teachers’ overborrowing.
Those who received less than the said threshold for the month of October due to deductions for the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) received the remainder on Oct. 30 through their automated teller machine (ATM) cards, as per the advice of Undersecretary for finance Victoria Catibog, according to the DepEd.
The DepEd prioritized the reinstatement as part of its commitment to ensure that teachers and personnel will receive not less than P4,000 for their NTHP as mandated by DepEd Order No. 55, s. 2017 titled “Revised guidelines on the implementation of P4,000 net take home pay for the Department of Education personnel,” signed by Education Secretary Leonor Briones.
The order further states that contributions or obligations of premiums and loans to the GSIS and HDMF shall be given priority in deductions from salaries of employees, pursuant to Section 47 of the general provisions of Republic Act No. 10924, or the General Appropriations Act of 2017. The same primacy shall be accorded to payments for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
The net pay may increase or decrease, depending on the GSIS and HDMF deductions, but DepEd assures teachers and personnel that their net pay will not go lower than P4,000.
“The Department reminds teachers and personnel to personally settle dislodged payments for their loans from private lending institutions over the counter,” the DepEd said.
The Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) had earlier bewailed DepEd’s defense against the excessive deductions on teachers’ pay, saying teachers were only forced to make excessive loans because of their low pay.
“Sec. Briones should not put the blame on our teachers. We borrow money because of our needs, definitely not for luxury,” Benjo Basa of the TDC said.
“We borrow money for our house rent, education, health, even our materials and supplies for daily lessons and other essentials which the government failed to provide for us and our families. The Secretary could help us by convincing the President to make good on his promise of P10,000 across-the-board increase for our teachers.” Basas said.