House Bill 219 which seeks to increase the salaries of teachers and other government employees was filed by ACT Representative France Castro as her priority bill in the 18th Congress.
This is a refilled bill that aims to raise the entry-level salary of public school teachers to P30,000 a month and the salary of regular entry-level government employees to P16,000. It also aims to increase the Personnel Economic Relief Allowance granted to all government employees from P2,000 per month to P5,000.
Castro stressed the urgency to increase the salaries of government employees, majority of whom are public school teachers and workers in the education sector, to ease the errors which were worsened by its latest Salary Standardization Law (SSL) adjustment through Executive Order 201 (2016) and the doubling of salaries of military and uniformed personnel through Joint Resolution 1 (2018). Teachers demand that they be prioritized because they won't receive any increase in their salaries in 2020 if this bill will not be passed.
"Too many times, President Duterte had promised teachers that he will increase their salaries after increasing the salaries of uniformed personnel. Teachers are simply asking him to fulfil the many promises made," Castro said. "Our teachers are only asking that they be given salaries that can provide them and their families decent lives. With the increasing workload of our teachers and the increasing cost of living, it is only just that they also be prioritized by the state."
"Those who are against increasing the salaries of our public school teachers argue that the salaries of public school teachers are way higher compared to the salaries given to private school teachers. What they fail to say is that private school teachers are underpaid too. And the Duterte administration should be reminded that it is its responsibility to protect and cultivate the salaries of its employees. Private institutions should not dictate the salaries of public employees, instead government salaries should be the benchmark of the wages of private institutions," Castro added.
"We strongly urge the incoming House Leadership to immediately hear and pass the bill increasing the salaries of teachers and other government employees. Similarly, we call on our fellow legislators in both houses of Congress to champion this cause. We demand that all government agencies to include the funds for the salary increase of teachers, non-teaching personnel and all rank-and-file government employees in their 2020 budget proposals. We also hope that in the upcoming State of the Nation Address, salsry increase for teachers will not just be mentioned but concrete steps for their salary increase would be made," the solon ended.
Source: ACT Teachers Party-List
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Posted by: DepedClick.com
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