Teachers unhappy with P1,500 pay increase

Public school teachers are dissatisfied with the proposed pay increase of P1,500 for more than a million government workers.

"We are thankful that Malacañang realized the need to augment our income. On the other hand, what is P1,500 compared to the inflation we experienced from year 2001?" asked Benjo Basas, a Caloocan City teacher and chairperson of the Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC). 

Basas noted that public school teachers and other government employees have already been suffering from a five-year wage freeze since 2001.

He said since that time, the real value of their salary dropped by 52 percent.

"A teacher’s monthly salary is only P9,939 while NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) says that over P19,000 is needed by a family in Metro Manila for a dignified living," Basas said.

The group is currently actively lobbying for the passage of the salary upgrading bill, or House Bill 3044, sponsored by Rep. Rene Magtubo.

According to the TDC, Congress made a mistake when it pegged the teachers’ entry-level position at Salary Grade 10 under the Salary Standardization Law of 1989.

"After Congress itself admitted the mistake in 1991, there was no sincere move from the government to rectify such error," Basas said.

The TDC challenged Malacañang and lawmakers to act immediately on the Magtubo bill instead of attending to personal interests and political squabbles.

"In May, we are again tasked to guard and count their votes which seemed never to our favor," Basas lamented.

Majority Leader Prospero Nograles on Sunday assured that the House of Representatives will approve the proposed P1,500 across-the-board salary increase when Congress resumes session later this month.

Nograles said as soon as the measure is filed and the appropriate committee endorses it, he would schedule it for plenary deliberations. — Sandy Araneta