VP Sara: Gov’t eyeing long-term outlook on salary increase for teachers

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday said the Marcos administration is looking at a possible long term solution to address the calls of teachers for salary increase.

In an ambush interview at the Victorino Mapa High School in Manila City, Duterte said that teachers have been receiving salary increases in tranches every year since 2020, citing the Salary Standardization Law of 2019 (SSL V).

However, she said President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. tasked her last year to procure a study on how the salary increases should be on a long-term basis.

“Noong pagpasok namin last year, pag-upo ko, nag-utos si Pangulong Marcos na mag-procure ng study na hindi lang yearly increase, but long term outlook kung paano ba dapat ang increases ng sweldo ng ating mga teaching and non-teaching DepEd personnel,” Duterte said.

(When I assumed the post last year, President Marcos ordered to procure a study that is not just about an annual salary increase, but a long term outlook on how the salary increases of our teaching and non-teaching DepEd personnel should be.)

“So we’re waiting for the result of the study na nandoon ‘yung increases and then nandoon din ‘yung pag-kumapra niya sa inflation at sa forecast ng mga economic indicators sa mga darating na taon,” she added.

(So we're waiting for the result of the study indicating the salary increases are their comparison with inflation and the forecast of economic indicators in the coming years.)

Last Thursday, when the House deliberations on the P5.768 trillion proposed national budget for 2024 began, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), along with other government workers, staged a rally to urge lawmakers to heed their demands for salary increase.

ACT has been calling for a P50,000 entry-level pay for teachers and P33,000 for Salary Grade 1 employees.

ACT also expressed dismay over the zero allocation for salary increases for government employees in the proposed 2024 national budget.

“Matagal nang napag-iwanan ng ibang propesyon ang sahod naming mga guro sa kabila ng bigat ng ipinapataw na responsibilidad ng gobyerno para sa learning recovery. Kaya nararapat lamang na tumbasan ng pagtataas ng sweldo ang sigasig at sakripisyo ng mga guro na ipagpatuloy ang edukasyon sa kabila ng malaking kakulangan sa pondo, guro, silid at pasilidad, learning at teaching resources, at education support personnel,” ACT chairperson Vladimer Quetua said in a statement.

(The wages of the teachers have long been left behind by other professions despite the weight of the government's imposed responsibility for learning recovery. It is thus appropriate that the salary increase compensates the hard work of teachers to continue teaching despite the lack of funds, teachers, classrooms and facilities, learning and teaching resources, and education support personnel.)

According to the Department of Budget and Management, the last tranche of the mandated salary increases for state workers took effect on January 1, 2023.

The first tranche of SSL V took effect on January 1, 2020.

ACT has also appealed for the government to meet the United Nation’s standard of allocating an education budget equivalent to 6% of the country’s gross domestic product, and redirect confidential and intelligence funds to social services and education needs.

The DepEd has proposed a P150-million budget for confidential expenses in 2024.

Duterte earlier said it is important for the agency to secure the multi-million budget for confidential expenses next year “because education is intertwined with national security.” — RSJ, GMA Integrated News