Teachers and education advocates will issue PEOPLE’S MEMORANDUM to BS Aquino for abandoning his duties to the people

“The Philippine Constitution’s Article XIV, Section 5 clearly states the government must allot the highest budgetary allocation to education and that salaries for the teachers must give “satisfaction and fulfillment” to them. This is furthered by Republic Act 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers which particularly mandated that teachers’ salary must be able to provide reasonable standard of life for themselves and their families. The current pay scheme of government fails to fulfill these criteria. Salaries of public school teachers do not compare favorably with other occupation in government. A duly licensed professional teacher occupying the entry-level position of Teacher I earns P18,549 a month (Salary Grade 11, Step 1), substantially less than a high school graduate who enters the Philippine Military Academy as a cadet who has a monthly salary of P21,709 per month,” said Ms. France Castro, Secretary-General of Alliance of Concerned Teachers.

The salaries of public school teachers are currently unable to “insure a reasonable standard of life for themselves and their families.” According to the study of IBON Foundation, the Family Living Wage (FLW) in the National Capital Region, estimated at P1,054 per day or more than P21,054 per month, which means that many teachers resort to borrowing from government financial institutions such as the Government Service Insurance System, private lending institutions, or loan sharks in order to cope with this “living salary gap.”

The situation has obviously pushed some of our best teachers out of the country to seek better pay and working conditions overseas. There is a huge gap in salary levels of teachers in the country compared with those abroad. For example, Filipino teachers who choose to practice their profession in the United States receive annual salaries ranging from P1.5 to P2.1 million. Meanwhile, an entry-level Teacher I receives P241,137 annually.  Appalling economic conditions also overwhelm non-teaching personnel, who perform functions complementary to that of teachers’ duties inside the classroom. As with other low- and middle-level government employees, they are also battered with indecent low pay, receiving a salary of P9,000 per month at the least (Salary Grade 1, Step 1), which is lower than the minimum wage in the National Capital Region.

We cannot simply buy the reason given to us by the BS Aquino regime through Budget Secretary Butch Abad that there is no enough fund for this as seen in the massive corruption taking place in the government through the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), Presidential Social Fund (PSF) and other lump sum allocations. For the Fiscal Year 2014 alone, around 1.1 trillion pesos is allotted under pork allocations under the control of the Pork Barrel King BS Aquino. This amount can already cover the needed amount for the adjustment in the salaries of the public school teachers and non-teaching staff. We demand that the 1.1 trillion pesos and all other pork allocations be rechanneled to education and other social services. With the continuing budget cuts in our SUCs, tuition and other fees went up several folds already and thus decreasing its public character and accessibility to the people especially to those living within and below the poverty line. Sa araw-araw, di ko alam kung papano pagkakasyahin ang kakarampot kong kinikita para lang mapag-aral ang aking mga anak,” lamented Ms. Mar Maluping, a mother of five kids.

Budget cuts in the SUCs as pushed by the Roadmap for Public Higher Education (RPHER) which states that the country’s Top 22 SUCs must be self-reliant and self-sustaining for their budget allocation will be cut by 50% by 2015. This is already seen with the current level of fees being implemented by the country’s national university, the University of the Philippines. UP’s tuition rate at P1,000/unit is already comparable to that of the private colleges and universities in the country. An iskolar ng bayan whose parents are minimum wage earners cannot afford this and what more for parents who do not have a permanent source of income. This is the reason why UP Manila student Kristel Tejada killed herself last March 14, 2013 after she was denied access to UP education due to her parents’ financial incapability to settle her bills.

We understand that the current BS Aquino regime has no intention to increase our salary, and as such we need to bind ourselves, reach out our fellow teachers and non-teaching personnel and forge a unity to have this battle and force BS Aquino to give what is due to us. We are committing ourselves to launch a nationwide campaign to gain support in our communities, local public official and even legislators. The time is now for us to act together for we cannot expect BS Aquino to simply hand us down this legitimate and humane call.