PRRD ‘all for’ teachers’ pay hike, Palace assures

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in his speech during a dinner he hosted for the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association, Incorporated (PMAAAI) at the Malacañan Palace on October 4, 2018, reiterates his vow to improve the peace and order situation in the country. ALFRED FRIAS/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – Malacañang on Tuesday assured that President Rodrigo Duterte is in favor of increasing the salary of public school teachers.

“Definitely, he (Duterte) is all for it. Ang problema nga lang doon ay naghahanap tayo ng pagkukunan eh (The problem is we are still looking where to source the fund for that),” said Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo in a Palace press briefing.

Panelo said the government is doing something to raise the interests and welfare of public school teachers.

“What I know is that they’re preparing for—basta they are doing something about it,” he said.

Panelo said a PHP10,000 increase for each public school teacher will cost the government about PHP150 billion.

“Kasi (That is why) you have to source funds,” he said.

Amid appeals from teachers groups urging Duterte to fulfill his promise to increase their pay, the Department of Education (DepEd) noted that the public school teachers’ monthly salary has increased by more than 100 percent since 2000.

Data from DepEd showed that the basic monthly salary of a Teacher I constituted a 119.25 percent increase, which means that following the final tranche of the Salary Standardization Law in 2019, a Teacher I now gets PHP20,754 compared to the PHP9,466 in 2000.

Currently, DepEd said, a Teacher II receives PHP22,938 monthly compensation; Teacher III — PHP 25,232; Master Teacher I — PHP40,637; Master Teacher II — PHP45,269; Master Teacher III — PHP51,155; and Master Teacher IV — PHP57,805.

DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones earlier said it is her duty to ensure that the salary increase is equitable, within the government’s means, and is sustainable.