As the May elections drew near, a group of teachers and education workers reminded voters of the importance of including education in the platforms of candidates.

“Education is a major national concern and plays a vital role in determining the future of the nation,” said the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines in a statement issued Sunday, Feb. 13.

To raise and expand the discussions on education as an important issue for the 2022 elections, ACT along with other groups, conducted a forum last week.

“Every home has a student and we hope to guide our voters to think of their children’s future when they make their electoral choices come May 2022 elections,” the group said.

The forum, titled “Ang Senador at Ang Edukasyon 2022,” featured eight senatorial candidates who rose to the challenge of the education sector, placing the upgrading of teachers’ salaries and increasing the education budget as top priorities to address the current education crisis.

The senatoriables bared their education agenda in a hybrid of online and face-to-face senatorial forum organized by ACT and 14 other teachers’ federations and faculty clubs and unions from private and public schools from basic to tertiary level.

Incumbent lawmakers senators Risa Hontiveros, Sherwin Gatchalian, Leila de Lima, through her representative lawyer Abel Malangque, and Cong. Loren Legarda, as well as senatorial bets Neri Colmenares, Elmer “Bong” Labog, Atty. Jose “Sonny” Matula and former Ifugao Cong. Teodoro “Teddy” Baguilat shared their education platforms and answered questions from the audience of more than 1,000 teachers and education support personnel gathered in 16 venues in nine cities and provinces during the forum.

ACT Secretary-General Raymond Basilio noted that low teachers’ pay is one of the “core issues and a glaring reflection of the dim state of our education.” Thus, he stressed that it “is but apt that this should be a top priority in addressing the education crisis.”

The group said that all of the candidates “expressed their support for the substantial salary increase for teachers” --- particularly the upgrading of entry-level salaries of public school teachers from the current salary grade 11 to salary grade 15.

Legarda noted that teachers’ pay has been left behind compared to other professions while Matula said that low salaries push many teachers to seek employment abroad.

Gatchalian sees the measure as key to uplifting the morale of teachers and enticing more youth to take the teaching path.

Apart from pay hike, Colmenares stressed that payment of overtime work is a basic constitutional right to be justly compensated for work done --- asserting that funds for this should be “released and teachers are compensated immediately.”

Baguilat, on the other hand, took note that raising the pay of uniformed personnel while teachers’ salaries remained low is “unfair” and proposed a standard minimum pay for private school teachers who are now even paid less than those in the public sector.

Labog brought attention to the irony of teachers being hailed as heroes but was paid” slave-like” salaries.

Speaking for De Lima, Manlanque stressed that teachers should be paid higher for the professionals that they are.

Hontiveros, meanwhile, viewed pay hike for teachers as an “important step” in taking care of the welfare of teachers as frontliners amid the pandemic.

The senatorial candidates also highlighted the need to significantly increase the budget allocation to improve education access and quality.