Senate to increase teachers' salaries, grant additional benefits

The long-standing cry of Filipino teachers for a salary increase, together with other additional benefits will soon be granted after the Senate took the first step in studying how to augment the salary of teaching and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepED) all over the country.

Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr.'s Senate Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation discussed Tuesday morning concrete steps to take towards the realization and implementation of the salary increase for teachers.

Representatives for the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department of Education (DepED) Central Office, and various teachers' groups and organizations expressed their positions on the matter, and requested the committee to expedite the matter.

Teachers' groups expressed their dismay over the present salary increase because it has only benefitted executive posts in the education bureau. At present, DepED employees receive an additional 10 percent increase based on their salary grade. According to teachers' groups, top positions greatly benefitted while the entry level teachers received a meager increase.

While it was pointed out during the public hearing that public school teachers receive salaries which may be considered relatively higher than private school teachers, the compensation packages of public school teachers fail in comparison to those received by other government workers including military and police personnel.

DepED USec. Tonisito Umali suggested that to narrow the wide gap between entry level position (Teacher I) and Master Teacher I, items for Teachers 4,5, and 6 must be added to the current items because there are very few Master Teacher I positions available. It was also suggested that the salary grade of Teachers I, II and III must be elevated to SG 13, 14 and 15 respectively.

At present, Teacher I posts receive P 20, 754. If the proposal of Senator Bong Revilla in Senate Bill No. 302 is approved, teachers holding this item will receive at least P 10,000 monthly increase.

The lawmaker ordered the DBM to find the necessary funds for this increase to which the DBM positively responded saying that according to their studies, there may be sources of funds that may be made available to pay for the increases.

Aside from pushing for the salary increases, Bong Revilla also instructed the DBM to source out funds for the provision of at least P5,000 chalk allowance so that teachers will no longer deduct their needed materials from their own pockets.

The Committee formed various Technical Working Groups to thresh out the details of the proposals and their eventual implementation, with Revilla assuring the Teachers' groups of the Committee's commitment to approve the measures and immediately submit its report for plenary consideration.