Palace non-committal on bill hiking teachers’ pay

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is non-committal on a bill seeking to increase the salary of public school teachers by P10,000.

Speaking on government radio dzRB, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said yesterday there is a need to study the bill’s implications on the national budget.

“There is a need to take into account the budgetary considerations because the 2015 budget is now being deliberated on,” Coloma said in an interview that coincided with the celebration of World Teachers’ Day.

“We need to know the budgetary parameters of that proposal.”

Coloma said it has been Congress’ standard procedure to study the budgetary implications of any bill.

“They (lawmakers) consult with the Department of Budget and Management because they do not pass a law without a definite funding source,” he said.

“There were laws passed by Congress that do not have a definite funding source so their implementation got delayed,” he added.

Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano filed the bill seeking to increase the compensation for public school teachers.

At the House of Representatives, Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio filed House Bill No. 245, which raises the minimum monthly salary of public school teachers to P25, 000 from P18,549.

Coloma nevertheless claimed that the government is working to support teachers and the education sector.

He said the 2015 budget allotted P92.3 billion to hire more than 39,000 new teachers, build new classrooms and buy teaching materials.

“We also allotted more than P2 billion for the training of public school teachers in preparation for the implementation of K-to-12 program,” he said.

The government would spend more than P309 billion for the education sector, he added.

Coloma also reminded the public to thank teachers who played important roles in their childhood.