SENATOR Nancy Binay scored Tuesday the slow distribution of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Department of Education (DepEd) of the public school teachers’ productivity enhancement incentive (PEI).
Binay said it has been a month since President Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order (EO) 181, and yet, public school teachers have not received this year’s PEI, which is equivalent to either P5,000 or one month basic salary.
EO 181, signed by the President last May 15, called for the implementation of the provisions of the 2015 General Appropriations Act on the grant of the PEI to government employees.
“It’s unfair that all of the teachers are fairly working but not all are receiving their bonus, which they diligently worked hard for,” Binay said, noting that the DBM and DepEd vowed to release the teachers’ PEI before June 1 but failed to do so.
“The teachers should be the government’s priority and they deserve to receive the highest compensation and benefits due to them,” she added.
Binay said she hoped the departments can fast-track the processing without the deductions.
“Dapat ang DepEd Central Office ang tanungin ninyo. Nasa kanila na ‘yung pondo,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said in a text message when asked for comment.
DepEd Assistant Secretary for Planning and Development Jesus Lorenzo Mateo could not give a concrete response, saying he has yet to look into Binay's claim.
Last week, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition’s (RDC) urged the government to release teachers’ PEI and clarify if DBM would be giving a month’s salary or only the P5,000 equivalent.
The TDC said the PEI was cut to P5,000 from 2012 to 2014 as the government implemented another incentive, the performance-based bonus.
Binay backed TDC and said teachers' PEI should be equivalent to their one-month salary so that the varying amounts would not cause division and comparison among employees.
“Many of our beloved teachers suffer from low salary so I hope that this occasional bonuses that could help them (address their financial issue) should be given to them," Binay said.
"The teachers serve as the second parents of our children every time they are at school. Let us help them recover from poverty,” she added. (Roanne Therese Almoniña, UST intern/Sunnex)