Teachers urge Angara to hold talks on pay hike

MANILA, Philippines —  Public school teachers under the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and its unions are calling on new Education Secretary Sonny Angara to conduct dialogues and consultations for substantial salary increases following his statement of support for wage hikes for public school teachers and government employees.

“We appreciate Senator Angara’s recognition of the need to uplift the salaries of our teachers, citing its positive effect on the quality of education delivery and we hope that his support translates into action,” ACT secretary-general Raymond Basilio said in a statement.

“We call on Sen. Angara to work with us and engage in thorough consultations to secure a significant salary increase for teachers—an approach that was neglected by his predecessor during her two-year term as DepEd (Department of Education) secretary,” he added.

Basilio said ACT would like to particularly discuss the group’s longstanding demand for P50,000 entry-level pay for teachers and P33,000 for salary grade one employees.

“We have long called for a salary increase that will close the gap betweenteachers’ salaries and the cost of living

and correct the distortion in the govern- ment salary scheme where teacher’s pay

lag behind those of other professions with the same qualifications,” he said.

Angara expressed confidence that he salaries of the public school teachers would increase under his watch as new DepEd Secretary.

“I’m confident in the next few years – just not sure if this year or next – about a sal- ary increase for our teachers,” Angara said.

Angara acknowledged that should the teachers get an increase in their pay, other government employees would als ask for the same by updating the Salary Standardization Law.

“We have over one million teachers in thecountry, not to mention the millions more government employees also asking for a salary increase. It will be difficult,” Angara said.

“But I’m confident, because teachers get a raise every administration, that we would be able to increase their salaries under President Marcos’ term,” he added.