DBM urged: Secure funding for teachers, workers

MANILA, Philippines — The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) yesterday called on the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to allocate funding to raise the entry-level salary of teachers to P50,000.

Increasing education support personnel’s pay to P36,000 and the personnel economic relief allowance to P5,000 are also being sought by the group.

“President Marcos must prove his statement that teachers are ‘more important than ever.’ Empty rhetoric cannot mask the daily hardship faced by teachers and education workers abandoned by the state,” ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo said.

Citing the 2026 national budget, ACT party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said P43.24 billion intended for salary upgrades and retirement benefits had been slashed to accommodate bloated lump sum allocations for local government units.