Palace will pursue teachers’ pay hike
Malacañang insisted that some 600,000 public school teachers will enjoy an increase in their salaries within the term of President Duterte.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said this in response to Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Ben Diokno’s statement that doubling the salaries of public school teachers would require 1500 billion and was not a priority.
Roque, during the Palace press briefing yesterday, respected Diokno’s opinion but insisted that Duterte will pursue with increasing the salaries of public school teachers.
The Palace official likened Duterte’s promise to increase the pay of the police and military which materialized this month.
“He knows best. He knows best. But as I said, it was not as if the President said that's double, like what he said on the salaries of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the police,” Roque said.
He reiterated that the President has ordered the Cabinet members to look for ways to increase the teachers' pay as the government prepares for the submission of the second package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) to the Congress.
“The President says he wants to increase the salary of teachers. He does not go back on his promises. He will increase the salary of teachers by as much as we can,” Roque said.
“The intention is there. It will not be taken back. We don't even know [by how much the pay will increase] but he has asked them [Cabinet members] to look for ways and means to increase the salaries of teachers,” he added.
Roque, however, asked the teachers to be patient but assured that their pay will be increased.
“Of course [they can expect it]! In the same way that it took time for his election promise to double the salary of policeman and the military. It will take some time but it will happen within his administration,” he said.
‘Insensitive’ Groups of public school teachers described yesterday the statement of Diokno that increasing their salaries is “not a priority” of the Duterte administration as insensitive.
Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), a 30,000-strong group, said that Diokno’s “insensitive statement that teachers’ salaries increase is not a priority contradicts the intention of his principal, President Rodrigo Duterte.”
TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said that Diokno’s statement “undermines the value and dignity of teaching profession and the everyday sacrifices of our teachers who patiently waited for this promised salary increase.”
Basas furthered that Diokno’s claim that the “average increase in salaries of teachers by now is 15 to 16 per cent is far from reality.” This, he noted, is because under Executive Order 201 that took effect in the year 2016, “the pay for teachers' entry-level position will only have a total increase of 12% compared to 2012 status and it will be given in four tranches from 2016 up to 2019.”
Others hope
Meanwhile, key members of Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) also held a press conference in Quezon City on the possibility of increasing the salaries of public school teachers.
“Our teachers were happy upon hearing this news because for the longest time, teachers are the most neglected and least advantaged sector in the society,” said ACT National Chairperson Benjie Valbuena said in Filipino. “It’s our first time hearing that teachers’ salaries would be doubled… this is a welcome and positive development for teachers especially with the implementation of TRAIN [Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion],” he added.
Valbuena said that despite Diokno’s statement against the salary increase of public school teachers, they remain hopeful that the President will stay true to his word. “We are hopeful that this will really push through… it’s not impossible because they were able to do that for our uniformed personnel, we are just asking that they do the same for us,” he added. (With a report from Merlina Hernando-Malipot)