Still no bonus for teachers

The Department of Education (DepEd) and its head, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, have drawn the ire of teachers’ groups for failing to ensure the uniform and full payment of the P10,000 performance bonus to the country’s nearly half-million public school teachers.

Antonio Tinio, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) chairman, said that although a substantial number of teachers throughout the country have received the full P10,000, the vast majority only got P7,000.

“In Metro Manila, for instance, only the teachers from Manila, Makati, Parañaque and Pasay got the full P10,000. Teachers in Pampanga, Cebu, and Davao likewise received full payment, but the majority got lesser amount,” Tinio said.

Benjo Basas, chairman of the Teachers’ Dignity Council (TDC), also aired the same complaint, saying the non-issuance of the full P10,000 performance bonus gravely disappointed public school teachers.

“The issuance of the full P10,000 performance bonus would have been an opportunity for DepEd to reward the sacrifices and devotion of public school teachers in the past year with a much-deserved bonus at the end of the year,” Basas told The STAR.

The teachers’ groups said public school teachers had expected the P10,000 performance bonus after President Arroyo issued Administrative Order 213, authorizing payment of the bonus, specifying that the Department of Budget and Management would release funds amounting to P7,000 for each government personnel.

The remaining P3,000 was to be sourced from government agency savings.

“But it also stipulates that any additional amount be paid uniformly to its personnel should savings be insufficient to cover the remaining P3,000,” said Tinio.

“Clearly, Secretary Lapus has so far failed to comply with these very simple guidelines, which are meant to ensure fairness in the granting of the performance bonus. Public school teachers everywhere are supposed to receive the same amount,” Tinio said.

He pointed out that those school divisions and, in some cases, individual schools that paid their teachers the full amount were able to do so because they made use of local savings at their disposal.

“Certainly the teachers in these areas deserve every centavo of what they got, but what about the rest? It is the job of the DepEd secretary to centralize savings and coordinate the payment of a uniform amount to ensure fairness and avoid the demoralization which would otherwise arise if employees within the same agency don’t receive the same benefits equally,” Tinio stressed.

Tinio said DepEd could make amends by ensuring the issuance of the remaining balance of P3,000 to all personnel.

“It’s not too late. Secretary Lapus should ensure that the additional P3,000 is released as soon as possible,” he urged.