Monday, September 15, 2008 Teachers march to Batasan; push wage hike bill
AT LEAST 2,000 militant teachers will march to the House of Representatives at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City on Monday to push for the passage of a bill for a P9,000 wage hike.
Spearheaded by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), the rally dubbed "Solidarity March" will start along Batasan Road in Quezon City at 2 p.m. and will proceed to the Batasan Complex where they will hold a brief program, the group's national president Antonio Tinio said.
The teachers will then proceed to the Congress session hall where they will lobby for support and listen to Gabriela Women's Party Representative Luzviminda Ilagan deliver a privilege speech calling for the enactment of a salary increase for teachers.
"We hope the march will send a strong message to Congress that public school teachers are determined to fight for this urgently needed salary hike," Tinio said as he called on House Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr. and appropriations committee chairman Quirino Representative Junie Cua to make sure the necessary legislation is passed before Congress goes into recess on October 10.
ACT is seeking the passage of House Bill (HB) 4734 granting a P9,000-increase to public school teachers over a period of three years.
At present, the basic salary of teachers stood at P10,000 but the group contended that with inflation, teachers are unable to cope with the prices of basic commodities, forcing many of them to do additional jobs to make both ends meet.
Citing the latest data provided by the National Statistics Coordinating Board (NSCB), Tinio said the poverty threshold for Metro Manila is pegged at P10,000.
But the amount covers only basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. Recreation and emergency expenses are not included.
The statistics likewise showed that for a family of six, the minimum living wage should be at P870 a day.
A counterpart bill, Senate Bill (SB) 2408, has already been approved in the Upper House.
Tinio said most of the teachers' federations in the National Capital Region (NCR) have pledged participation in the march to Congress.
These include: Quezon City Public School Teachers' Federation, Caloocan Public School Teachers' Association, Valenzuela Public Elementary School Teachers' Federation, Samahan ng mga Guro sa mga Mataas na Paaralan ng Navotas, Mandaluyong Federation of Public School Teachers' Associations, Makati Public School Teachers' Association, Muntinlupa Federation of Public Elementary and Secondary Teachers' Association, Federation of Pasig Public School Teachers and Personnel, Taguig-Pateros Public School Teachers' Association, and Pasay City Federation of Public School Teachers.
The group has also staged a similar march to the Lower House last month to pressed legislators to support the passage of the proposed legislation.
For his part, Department of Education (DepEd) secretary Jesli Lapus expressed support for the passage of the law, saying: "DepEd has been cognizant of the need to improve the lot of our teachers."
Aside from salary upgrade, Lapus cited among the other efforts to improve teachers' welfare include the payment of some P1.7 billion in arrears representing government shares in contribution to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS); the release of P400 million last year to partially settle unpaid loyalty pays, step increments and other entitlements of DepEd personnel especially teachers, the release of P77.8 million from the DepEd 2007 NCR savings for the payment of the much-awaited 1999 "over-and-above" allowances of Metro Manila-based public school teachers that allowed the immediate payment of some unpaid benefits.
In response to the Civil Service Commission ruling on classroom teaching hours, Lapus also issued guidelines that allowed teachers six hours of actual classroom teaching instead of eight hours. (AH/Sunnex)
