The government could use four sources to heed the clamor of public school teachers for a P10,000 pay increase, but Senator Francis Escudero said those would not be enough.
Malacañang has said President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered his economic advisers to look for resources to finance the teachers’ salary increase.
Meanwhile, Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Friday stressed she was not against increasing the salary of public school teachers.
“As Education Secretary, and as an advocate, I am committed to the policy to promote and improve the social and economic status of public school teachers, their living and working conditions and their terms of employment,” Briones said in a statement.
“I am in full support of the President’s pronouncement to raise the salaries of teachers.”
Briones was reacting to news reports saying she was against increasing the teachers’ salaries when she said: “Teaching is not all about money.”
Escudero said there were only four sources of funds”•borrow, realign some items, increase taxes or use savings. But he said the funds to be raised from those would not be that big to address the much-needed salary increase.
“It’s not that there’s no chance [of a wage hike], but where to get the funding? said Escudero, head of the Senate education committee.
He said the funding for the salary hike would cost P150 billion for all teachers. He said the salaries of teachers were lower than those of policemen and the members Armed Forces.
He said the government follows a certain formula to compute the so-called living wage. The income should be enough to spend for goods, food, housing, utilities, and clothing.
He suggested there should be a separate law that would provide for the salary increase of teachers.
At the same time, Escudero supported the stand of the Department of Education to prioritize the construction of classrooms over faculty rooms to address the backlog that has adversely affected students.
He cited the current classrooms shortage in public schools nationwide, prompting schools to forgo assigning faculty rooms for teachers.
But once the classrooms were enough and there was still additional funding for other things, he said, that was the time schools could give faculty rooms to teachers as well as canteens and cafeterias.
Sought for his comment on the viral photos of teachers using an old restroom as a faculty room at the Bacoor National High School in Bacoor, Cavite, Escudero said it was the teachers’ decision to do so.
“For me, they could have used the classroom once classes were over. Our teachers have other options, he said.
A series of Facebook posts by BNHS faculty president Maricel Herrera showing 11 teachers using toilet cubicles as a faculty room due to lack of space had gone viral.
The viral photos have erupted into a bitter dispute between the Education department and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, the government-accredited teachers’ union.
Education Undersecretary Alain del Pascua accused ACT of spreading “propaganda” meant to denigrate Briones and President Duterte.
ACT, meanwhile, slammed the department’s alleged neglect and callousness toward teachers who, the group said, were only standing up for their rights. With PNA