WHILE we are thankful for the P1, 000 Teachers’ Day incentive for we consider this as a birthday gift, we ask the Department of Education (DepEd) to raise the level of our teachers by providing for long-term solutions to our socio-economic woes.”
The incentive which will be released not earlier than Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019, in time for the celebration of the World Teachers’ Day (WTD) is an unprecedented cash incentive which was announced last year by Secretary Leonor Briones and included in 2019 national budget.
We appreciate such gesture but still challenge the DepEd leadership to be more supportive to our teachers and implement the welfare provisions of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, support us on our calls for a substantial pay increase like the P10, 000 across-the-board increase for teachers and DepEd employees and defend our teachers against the unjust policies of the GSIS.
Last year, the TDC staged a 12-day picket outside the gates of the DepEd Central Office in Pasig City to emphasize our Seven Demands which are within the powers of the DepEd secretary to address.
The DepEd responded through several statements like the clarification of the working hours and overtime pay policy, hiring of non-teaching personnel to take on clerical tasks and providing for a free medical check-up for teachers. But most of those listed in the Seven Demands were left unanswered.
We are still willing to discuss these matters to our secretary to find a common solution. We are willing to help the Department in achieving solutions which will be beneficial both to the teachers and the department..
We submitted a formal request for a dialogue last August to air our concerns to the secretary and still waiting for the DepEd’s response until this moment.
This P1,000 may help us celebrate for a day, but our profession deserves respect every day.