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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Teachers protest for full SRI, higher pay, and supplemental budget

Teachers protest for full SRI, higher pay, and supplemental budget

Published Jan 15, 2026 09:23 pm
ACT Chairperson Ruby Bernardo speaks out for teachers and education workers, highlighting delays in the 2025 Service Recognition Incentive during the protest at the DBM on January 15, 2026. (Photo from ACT)
ACT Chairperson Ruby Bernardo speaks out for teachers and education workers, highlighting delays in the 2025 Service Recognition Incentive during the protest at the DBM on January 15, 2026. (Photo from ACT)
Teachers and education workers staged a protest on Thursday, January 15, calling on the Marcos administration to release the full 2025 Service Recognition Incentive (SRI), implement meaningful salary increases, and submit a supplemental budget to ensure regularization and benefits for public school employees.
Led by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), demonstrators voiced frustration over delayed payments and unmet government promises.
“Halfway through January, we still have not received the full SRI. Even the minor pay adjustment under EO 64 has been delayed. This is outright neglect of educators who are essential to nation-building,” said ACT Chairperson Ruby Bernardo, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.
Bernardo stressed that a benefit that is “endlessly delayed is no service recognition at all” but rather “outright neglect.”
“The administration has once again laid bare its contempt for teachers and education workers, who remain at the bottom of its priorities, while military and uniformed personnel are rewarded with base pay hikes and more than doubled daily subsistence allowances,” she added.
ACT lamented that teachers and staff in the Department of Education (DepEd) have received only P10,000 to P14,500 of the promised P20,000 SRI for 2025.
The remainder has yet to be released, ACT said, violating the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) guidelines, which mandate full payment by December 31, 2025.
The group urged the DBM to issue the necessary Special Allotment Release Orders (SARO) and expedite the release of pending funds.
The protest, held in front of the DBM, also highlighted a stark contrast in government priorities.
ACT pointed out that while teachers continue to wait for overdue benefits, military and uniformed personnel have received base pay adjustments and doubled daily subsistence allowances, backed by P21.7 billion in funding. An additional P4.06 billion was allocated for hiring over 10,000 new positions in the AFP, PNP, BFP, BJMP, BuCor, and Philippine Coast Guard.
Bernardo criticized President Marcos’ veto of P43.245 billion under Unprogrammed Appropriations, which would have funded salary increases, regularization, and benefits for over 259,000 job order and contract-of-service workers, including more than 41,000 SUC faculty and staff.
ACT noted that the veto also affects P32.472 billion intended for terminal leave benefits for retiring civilian and uniformed personnel, further delaying earned compensation.
The group called on the President and DBM to submit a supplemental budget to restore these allocations.
ACT also renewed its long-standing demands for a substantial salary increase and improved working conditions, including a P50,000 entry-level pay for teachers, P36,000 minimum basic pay for Salary Grade 1 employees, and the upgrading of Instructor I positions in SUCs to Salary Grade 16.
The group also reiterated its call for at least six percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be allocated to education. 

Related Tags

Teachers salary hike Service Recognition Incentive release Supplemental budget for education Public school benefits ACT protest
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