Briones signs order ensuring P4K take home pay for teachers

FILE: Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones (Photo By Leonor Magtolis Briones – Department of Education, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA — Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones on Thursday signed DepEd Order (DO) 55, ensuring that teachers will have no less than PHP4,000 net in their monthly take home pay.

The move aims to help teachers manage their finances after data showed that many teachers avail of various loans, even from loan sharks, just to make ends meet.

DepEd DO 55, or the “Revised guidelines on the Implementation of PHP4,000 Net Home Pay for the DepEd Personnel,” will prioritize loan deductions due for Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF).

This means the contributions, obligations for premiums and loans to GSIS and HDMF will be prioritized in the salary deductions.

“The same primacy shall be accorded to payments for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth),” DepEd said in a statement.

Briones said that while the teacher’s net pay may increase or decrease depending on the GSIS and HDMF deductions, the DO ensures that the personnel’s take home pay will not go lower than the PHP4,000 threshold.

The agency also continues to identify measures that will enable teachers to manage their finances.

“We are also examining emergency measures to assuage the situation of those who have been negatively affected by the recent loan deduction,” Briones said.

She emphasized that the DO aims to protect the teachers’ interests.

Personnel applying for loans should be aware of their capacity to pay, and of the interests and penalties that they may incur in case of delayed payment, Briones said.

“They must ensure they have the capacity to pay loans being applied under the Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS). Non-mandatory deductions not deducted under the APDS, on the other hand, shall be paid directly to the lenders,” she said.

Data from the DepEd revealed that teachers from across the country have incurred PHP178 billion worth of loans from private institutions, and PHP123 billion worth of credits due to GSIS as of December 2016. (PNA)