The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) decries the ten percent (10%) salary hike for teachers as not enough compared with the inflation rate of less than five and a half percent (5.2%).
The salary increase for government workers is deemed not sufficient enough to offset the impact of inflation and the new tax system in the country. Raymond Basilio, ACT Secretary, referred to the ten percent (10%) increase as “meager”. Basilio reiterated that the increase is not the agreement the union made with current Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
The thirty-one billion pesos (PhP31b) allotted for the salary increase of some less than a million and a half (1.2m) government workers next year is deemed not enough to provide for a substantial salary increase.
Although the Philippine President had said that he would give an increment a little bigger than the previous raise, he didn’t mention it would be a 10 percent increase. In the words of Basilio:
Such will neither give due recognition to the significant work teachers, and other rank-and-file employees do nor will it ‘tide us over’ in this economy.
Comparing the ten percent (10%) increase by President Duterte to the salary raise given by the previous president, it turned out to be just an addition of Philippine Peso two thousand seventy-five (P2,075) per month to entry-level public school teachers.
Lamentable salary hike for teachers
When the inflation rate reached 5.1 percent in 1997 under the administration of the former president, Fidel Ramos, he gave an increase which culminated to P2,592 per month to entry-level public school teachers. Whereas, the present administration could hardly provide a better boost even with the 5.2 percent inflation rate.
Basilio further said that it’s unfortunate that the Duterte government choose to fund tools for war and fascism rather than tools for the delivery of social services.
ACT also expressed disappointment over the proposed increase as it is less than half of the sixty-four billion pesos (PhP64b) allocated last year for the salary increase of some three hundred thousand (300,000) uniformed personnel.
Nevertheless, ACT has seen a glimpse of light in the pending bills in Congress. Hence, they admonished the association to continue to lobby for pending bills that would bring about the favorable increase of Thirty thousand pesos (PhP30,000) per month for entry-level teachers.
These bills are a product of the successful exposition of the lamentable economic conditions of teachers and other civilian government employees.
