Gullas: Many tried to bribe me to kill bill on regionalization of teachers' payroll

Former Cebu 1st district congressman Jose R. Gullas was bribed with luxury vehicles not to pursue his payroll regionalization bill.

Gullas made the revelation when he spoke before 400 members of the Philippine Association of School Superintendents during the culmination of their national convention recently at the Parklane Hotel.

Gullas told PASS members that he filed the House Bill 2542 in August 2001 and received warnings from his veteran colleagues that he would meet stiff opposition from several sectors.

"Many thought that it will be impossible but I fought as a neophyte congressman," Gullas said.

Gullas succeeded in having his House Bill 2542, or the Act Regionalizing the Department of Education Payroll Service Division, passed in Congress.

Shortly after he was elected as congressman in 2001, Gullas immediately went to the 1st district -composed of Talisay City, and the towns of Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando, Carcar and Sibonga- where he talked to his constituents and found out from the teachers about their delayed salaries. They pleaded him for a solution and he promised to come up with one.

"The most important things that I did while I was still in congress was I fought the battle for you," Gullas said.

Gullas, the executive vice president of the University of the Visayas, said the teachers have long been mired with the agony of delayed salaries as they have to wait, through several months, for their checks to arrive from the DepEd central office in Manila. He said that there were even times when their delayed checks had errors in the amounts, prolonging their sufferings further as they had to go to Manila to have these corrected.

"It was indeed pleasure to me even though that I am no longer a public official but I finally won the battle for the public school teachers," Gullas said as he ended his speech. - Garry B. Lao/BRP