TTIE NATION'S EAT'ING NEWSPAPEN
l,LETIIl
Act on your promised salary
hike, teachers appeal to Duterte
Days be{ore President Duterte
delivers his 2019 State of the Nation
Address (SONA), a group of teach-
ers reminded him on Wednesday to
"act on his promise" to increase the
salaries ol public school teachers
nationwide.
The Teachers' Dignity Coalition
(TDC) has formalized its appeal to
the President to fulfill his promise
to raise the pay of the country's'
public school teachers. In a letter
received by Malacanang on July 12,
TDC Nal.ional Chairperson Benjo
Basas reminded the President of his
promise more than three years ago
citing the bill filed by Duterte's run-
ning mate, then Senator Alan Peter
Cayetano, seeking for an lrdditional
F10,000 compensation for teachers
in public schools.
Thursday, July 1 8,-2019
"We were truly grateful with
your promise that you will work for
the realization of this bill," TDC
said. Cayetano was the Principal
sponsor o[ the bill's Senate version
in 15th, 16th, and 17th Congress.
TDC also atlached a draft version
of the said bill which was initiated
by Cayetano.
Basas noted that since the TDC's
foimation in year 2006, "we have con-
sistently lobbied for the enactment
of the Salary Upgrading Bill which
has become a perennial proposal in
both houses of Congress for more
than two decades." He added that
TDC's proposal is "consistent with
the findings and recommendations
of the 1991 joint report of education
committees of both housei'.
TDC noted that copies of their
proposal on salary were then sent
to all the senators for their con-
sideration. The group cited the
breakthrough in year 2008 when the
Senate agreed to legislate the F9,000
across-the-board bill - aprecursor to
their current proposal.
Basas noted that in 2008, the
Senate Committees on Education,
Finance and Government Service
'took a decisive step to tackle sev-
eral versions of said bill filed before
the chamber." He added that the
majority of senators "approved a
consolidated version" which was the
Senate Bill2408 or An Act Providing
for Additional Support and Compen-
sation for Educators in Basic Educa-
tion. "The bill seeks to augment the
teachers' salaries by providing for
a F9,000 additional compensation to
be divided in three tranches, among
other benefits," he said.
But Basas noted that former
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
favored the Standardization Law-3
(SSL-3) through Joint Resolution No.
4 which provided a salary increase
for ;ll the government employees
\ pAq€
from 2009 to 2012. For the group,
this law "does not rectify the er-
rors of SSL-1 of 1989, Particularly
the supposed improvement on the
status of teachers under the new
salary scale."
Thus, TDC appealed to the Presi
dent to once and for all "correct the
errors" in teachers' salary scheme
and "grant their long overdue de-
mand" for salary augmentation and
fulfill a campaign promise. "This
SSL-3 has perpetuated the Poor
status of our teachers and Pegged
our salaries in Salary Grade 11,
the lowest among the government
professionals," Basas said. "Until
recently, teachers su{fered low pay
because of the extension of this
SSL thru EO 201 which gave us a
four'tranche increase of a little over
P500 since year 2016. We believe th3t
the scheme under S$L is unj'.rst and
discriminatory," he added.
TDC also compared [he Presl
dent's "swift action" on the com-
pensation of military and Police
personnel to the plight of teachers
and finally asked the chief execu-
tive for a meeting - an invitation he
himself called earlier this year. "If
the governmenl was able to raise
the entry-level salaries o{ military
and uniformed. personnel bY 100
percent with regular improvement,
there is no reason to leave our teach-
ers behind," Basas said. "Finally,
may we reiterate oirr desire to meet
you to discuss this ProPosal and
other concerns of our teachers," he
stressed.
Along with other grouPs, mem-
bers of the TDC again will also
join the SONA activities on JulY 22,
Monday to dramatize their situation.
TDC will also further reiterate its
demands for "improvement in their
salarie3 and benefits, better working
conditions and meaningful reforms
in education sector."
-qt/