No pay hike for teachers

MANILA, Philippines - Lawmakers are not likely to increase the salaries of the more than 500,000 public school teachers next year.

Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, who chairs the House committee on basic education, said teachers should not expect a salary adjustment in 2015.

She told a news conference that there is a salary standardization law that governs pay scales and adjustments in the bureaucracy.

“Congress cannot increase the basic pay of teachers without increasing the salaries of all other government personnel,” she said.

She expressed doubt on whether the government could afford the huge amount for a bureaucracy-wide salary increase next year.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, in a radio interview, echoed Cojuangco’s statement.

He said if Congress gives public school teachers a pay hike, it should grant the same adjustment to soldiers, policemen, clerks and other state employees.

He said the government had just finished implementing the four-year upgrading of salaries of its personnel under the latest version of the salary standardization law.

As a result, he said the entry-level pay of teachers had gone up to about P15,000 a month, which is the same rate that the lowest-paid policeman and soldier are receiving.

“We believe that this salary is competitive. In fact, it is higher than what teachers in private schools are getting,” he added.

On Monday, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said public school teachers should bring their clamor for a salary increase to the House and the Senate.

He said the government’s concern for improving salaries is not limited to teachers.

“When you’re speaking of government employees, who include teachers, we would require a salary standardization law from Congress,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it boils down to how much they are proposing, what would be the impact on the national budget, and what the sources of revenue for the increase would be,” he said.

Government salaries have doubled as a result of a multi-year pay adjustment program launched by Congress.

For instance, President Aquino’s basic monthly salary had gone up from P60,000 to P120,000.

Cabinet members and lawmakers now receive about P75,000-P80,000 a month. Their previous pay was only P35,000.

Supreme Court justices get more than the President. Justices received P135,000 to P150,000 a month, including allowances.

Protest rally

Meanwhile, at least 2,000 public school teachers in Negros Occidental held a protest to call for salary increase.

The teachers, who wore black armbands, gathered in front of the old city hall of Bacolod after their afternoon classes.

“In spite of the continued increase in the prices of basic goods and services, we haven’t received any good news from the national government,” Gualberto Dajao, regional president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), said.

He also cited the shortage of books, classrooms and teachers in many schools. “They declared that they have addressed the problem, but the truth is there are no changes under the administration of President Aquino,” he said.

He urged the President to certify the urgent approval of House Bill 245 filed by ACT party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio to raise teachers’ salaries to P25,000. – With Danny Dangcalan