THE Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Davao Chapter confirmed that they did receive P2,000 gift certificates from the City Government of Davao in 2016 and 2017 as what was said by the city mayor in her post but also clarified that this was different to the monthly allowance they are requesting.
On October 6, ACT Davao Chapter posted on its official Facebook page a list of different cities in the country with the amount of cash allowance given to their teachers. The post also claimed that Davao City is the only city in the country that does not give allowances to its teachers.
“In December 2016 and 2017, the City Government of Davao gave gift cheques worth P2,000/person/year to all teaching and non-teaching employees of DepEd. We have copies of the budget, pictures of distribution and the liquidation with all the signatures,” Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said as a response through a post in her Instagram account.
In this same post, the city mayor also called the ACT Teachers Davao “terorista,” “sympathizer ng mga terorista”, and “liars.” She also suggested that DepEd “should dismiss terrorists from their ranks.” Further, she also pointed out how ironic that the government uses the public’s money to people who work against the government.
“Why is our government supporting the same people who want to overthrow it?” the city mayor said.
ACT Davao Chapter President Reynaldo Pardillo, in a phone interview with SunStar Davao on Monday, October 8, said that they are not terrorists nor sympathizers of them. He said he can especially speak of their chapter in Davao City.
“Naa man ta sa legal na paghangyo. Niagi tag proseso (We are requesting legally, we are going through the process). We have to deal with it professionally. Wala mi naguol kung dili man mi matagaan bahin ani among request pero nalain, na-hurt lang mi sa kani na giingon ni mayor (We are not worried but we are hurt with what the mayor said). Pero we are still willing to have a sit-down talk with her,” said Pardillo.
They also released an official statement through their official Facebook page apologizing to the mayor if they have offended her with their original post.
“It was never our intention to offend as it is only based on facts. Madam Mayor, we are willing to sit with you to clarify our side. We are not your enemy,” read the official statement.
‘Regarding the post she is reacting to, while it is true that Davao City teachers received the gift cheques she mentioned, it does not negate the fact that Davao City is the only big city in the country that does not give cash allowances to teachers. Everyone can read the caption to know how much cash allowances teachers receive from their cities. In fact, Davao City teachers are currently negotiating with her for such cash allowances,” it also said.
On October 5, Friday, ACT Davao had already lowered their request for local subsidy from P2,000 monthly allowance and P2,500 quarterly rice subsidy per teacher to now P1,500 per month and half-a-sack of rice. The request had already been forwarded to the city government.