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Prolonged salary study leaves teachers struggling for decent, livable income --- group
Prolonged salary study leaves teachers struggling for decent, livable income --- group
A group of education workers on Saturday, Feb. 17, decried the “protracted study” of the Department of Education (DepEd) on salary hikes --- noting that delayed salary review has a devastating impact on teachers' livelihood.
“Ilang taon nang kapos ang sweldo ng mga guro, ‘inaaral pa’ ang lagi lamang sagot ng gobyerno (For how many years have teachers been experiencing insufficient salaries, 'still studying' is always the government's response),” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairperson Vladimer Quetua.
ACT stated a response to the DepEd’s deferral of its position on salary increase for teachers as they await a commissioned study for a “long-term outlook” on education workers’ demand for substantial salary increase.
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ACT underscored that the agency’s “fixation” on such studies has long denied teachers of decent and livable income amidst economic and learning crises.
“Ano pa bang kailangang patunayan ng mga guro at kawani samantalang kalakhan ay kakarampot na lamang ang naiuuwing take-home pay dahil sa mga kaltas at utang, na sinasaid pa ng patuloy na pagtaas ng mga bilihin at singil sa kuryente, tubig, at iba pang pampublikong serbisyo? (What else do teachers and employees need to prove when most bring home meager take-home pay due to deductions and debts, aggravated by the continuous rise in prices of goods and charges for electricity, water, and other public services?),” Quetua said.
Citing data from the IBON Foundation, ACT noted that a family of five should receive a wage of P1,193 a day or the equivalent of almost P36,000 a month to live decently as of January 2024.
This, ACT added, is “concrete evidence” that teachers’ entry-level pay of P27,000 under the Salary Standardization Law V falls significantly short of the standard family living wage.
“Malinaw naman na ang matagal nang kapos na sweldo ng mga guro ang nagtutulak sa marami sa amin na mangutang nang mangutang matugunan lang ang mga pangunahing pangangailangan ng aming pamilya (It is clear that the long-standing insufficient salary of teachers has pushed many of us to keep borrowing just to meet the basic needs of our families),” Quetua said.
As a result of the "meager" salary, Quetua said that many teachers were compelled to take various sidelines to have additional income.
“Wala nang ihihigpit pa sa sinturon ng mga guro. Hindi na dapat ibinbin pa ang pagbibigay ng nakabubuhay at disenteng sweldo para sa mga guro at kawani (There’s should be no more tightening of the belt for teachers. The provision of a livable and decent salary for teachers and employees should not be delayed any further),” Quetua said.
ACT has been pushing for raising the entry-level salary of teachers to P50,000 and P33,000 for employees.
The group also reiterated its call for the Marcos administration to focus on passing laws for salary increases rather than “tinkering with the constitution,” which, ACT said, will further “plunge the people into crisis.”