Teachers welcome planned pay hike

WE welcome Malacañang’s pronouncement that the president is planning to double the entry-level salary of teachers and hope that he will use his influence and power to make this statement a reality.

We have been waiting for this since President Duterte assumed office in 2016, with the increase in salary of teachers among his promises. Recognizing the intricacies of governance, we patiently waited for the promised enhancement of our salaries and benefits, while obviously our brothers and sisters in the uniformed service were given priority. The increase in the salary of military and police personnel took effect this January.

We have been pushing for the enactment of the bill that would grant P10, 000 across-the-board increase in salaries of government teachers, among other benefits. For the longest time, our calls for a just compensation and treatment commensurate to our role in society have been neglected by the previous administrations. We hope that this time, things would really change.

We have staged in the recent past a series of protest actions and artistic expressions to dramatize the socioeconomic situation of teachers aimed to pressure the government to heed their calls for higher salaries. We are open to discussions if the president finds it necessary. We hope that Madam Liling Briones, our education secretary, would help is in this endeavor.—

Benjo Basas, national chairperson, Teachers’Dignity Coalition