Let teachers enjoy incentives, benefits in their lifetime not beyond, TDC appeals
“Give assistance to living teachers, not to the dead ones.”
While appreciative of the proposal that would give educators a funeral discount, a group of teachers yesterday urged government to provide incentives and other benefits while they are “still alive.”
Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) said that its members appreciate the attention from Senator Nancy Binay who earlier filed a bill seeking a 20 percent discount on funeral services for families of public school teachers of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) “who died on account of workrelated sickness and injuries.”
However, TDC National Chair-
person Benjo Basas said teachers “would be more grateful if the government will provide them with free medical check-up and other forms of medical assistance while still alive, not just a discount for their funeral.”
TDC said they recognize the effort of Binay since the Senate Bill No. 1670 seeks to assist the teachers or their families in time of mourning and huge expenses. “However, we would be more appreciative if the good senator and the Congress will use their oversight power to implement the provisions of Magna Carta for teachers, one of which is the mandate that teachers should be provided with annual health examination as well as hospitalization if necessary and that is for free,” Basas added.
Under the 1966 Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (RA 4670),government is responsible for maintaining teachers’ health thru a compulsory, annual and free medical examination and medication or hospitalization if found necessary.
“Teachers need assistance particularly if they have to undergo chemotherapy, hemodialysis or major operations due to heart or lung conditions or complications due to pregnancy,” Basas said. “In these cases, we really need a government that cares for us, while we are still alive,” he added.
Begging for help TDC cited several cases where teachers practically “begged for help” in order to survive their illness.
Basas said many were able to recover, while some “were not that lucky and never made it.” Such is the case of a teacher in Caloocan City who died in a private hospital two years ago. “Because the family lacks money to settle the bills, her body was made hostage for several weeks,” he said.
TDC also noted the case of another teacher from Malabon who gave birth to her first baby in a lying-in clinic and suffered continuous bleeding. She was rushed to a private hospital where she was in coma for more than a week. “The family, whose income depends mainly on her, solicited funds from politicians and guarantee letters from PCSO to pay for the bills,” Basas said. “The poor teacher died few days before Christmas of 2016,” he shared.
Basas said his group has been closely coordinating with DepEd to ensure that by the end of this school year in March, “teachers will not need to pay for their annual check-up.” He also urged Education Secretary Leonor Briones to consider TDC’s proposal which will make assistance coming from DepEd more accessible and timely thru a support mechanism.
Last year, TDC asked DepEd to establish a support mechanism thru a mutual aid and benefit system that would be readily available to all teachers in need, on top of the immediate implementation of Sections 22of the Magna Carta which provides that “compulsory medical examination shall be provided free of charge for all teachers before they take up teaching, and shall be repeated not less than once a year during the teacher's professional life. Where medical examination show that medical treatment and/or hospitalization is necessary, same shall be provided free by the government entity paying the salary of the teachers.
In regions where there is scarcity of medical facilities, teachers may obtain elsewhere the necessary medical care with the right to be reimbursed for their traveling expenses by the government entity concerned.