A GROUP of teachers in Davao City said they will continue to lobby for the approval of their proposed financial assistance for public school teachers, this time with Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte.
Alliance of Concerned Teachers - Davao City (ACT-Davao City) division president Reynaldo Pardillo said they are eyeing to discuss their proposal with the vice mayor next year.
ACT-Davao City has been lobbying for the said financial aid since 2018. The group originally pushed for a P2,000 monthly financial assistance and a P2,500 quarterly rice subsidy for all teaching and non-teaching personnel.
However, Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio rejected the proposal, saying the city's budget cannot subsidize all 11,959 Department of Education (DepEd) school personnel.
This had led to tension between the group and the mayor, with the group posting on its Facebook page that Davao City is the only city that does not provide subsidy to teachers. The group later apologized to the mayor.
Duterte-Carpio announced in March this year that she will no longer negotiate with the group. Instead, the group would have to submit their proposal to Davao City's schools division superintendent Dr. Maria Ines C. Asuncion.
Meanwhile, Pardillo said they will lobby for a P1,500 yearly assistance from the vice mayor. But he said they will let the government decide what amount they could "heartily" provide.
"Although same proposal among i-lobby kay Baste (Duterte). Pero kung pila lang ang ilang makayang ihatag, atong dawaton. Di naman ta mamugos kung pila ila ihatag (Although we will be lobbying the same proposal to Baste. But this, we won't demand how much. We will accept how much they will be giving to us.)," Pardillo said.
He said teachers would already be happy to receive any amount, considering the high prices of basic commodities due to the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law.
The union head said they were still positive that the local government would hear their request.