MALACAÑANG’S’ proposed salary standardization for teachers is not enough to offset the decline in the purchasing power of the peso, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Monday.
He said providing quality education was key to addressing poverty.
“Malacañang’s proposed salary standardization, where an entry-level teacher’s salary would increase only by 11.89 percent from P18,549 a month this year to P20,754 after four annual salary hikes ending in 2019, would be hardly felt if we factor in inflation,” Binay said in a speech at the Centennial Celebration of the San Alberto Magno Academy in La Union.
“It would be better if we looked at adjusting the salary of a Teacher 1 from the current Salary Grade 11 to at least Salary Grade 19.”
Binay made his statement even as Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez expressed hope that the House leadership under Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. would show the same enthusiasm and political will in passing the bill lowering individual and corporate income tax rates like it did when it passed the proposed “Salary Standardization Law of 2015” last week.
“We hope that this bill adjusting the income tax rates to inflation will finally get the support from the government,” Romualdez said.
“We should not prolong the agony of our people, especially the low income earners, by having this measure passed into law. This is a good way to show our malasakit to them.”
A member of the Makabayan Bloc in the House of Representatives said the government employees occupying low- and middle-level positions were the biggest losers under the Aquino administration’s proposal for salary increases, while those occupying top posts—including the President—were the most favored.
“A measly P2,205 increase in four years is given to a Teacher I under the Malacañang proposal embodied in House Bill 6268 for the ‘Salary Standardization Law of 2015’ or SSL 2015,’’ ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said.
“This increase amounts to a mere P24 in additional finances per day for the ordinary public school teacher.”
Binay said he would continue to push for the welfare of teachers and noted that his daughter, Senator Nancy Binay, had already filed several bills in Senate aimed at giving teachers additional benefits.
“It is only appropriate to show gratitude for their service and dedication by way of giving them reasonable compensation and benefits,” Binay said.
He recounted how having quality education helped him improve his life and vowed to increase the education budget by 20 percent if he was elected Presdient.
He said that, under his administration, he will increase the budget for education and training by 20 percent. The increased fund will be used to build more classrooms, buy more books and other instructional materials for elementary schools.
He said one of the priorities of his administration would be the review of the implementation of the K-12 program.
“I agree with the noble purpose behind K-12, but I feel that stakeholders are ill-prepared for such major adjustments in their schedules and resources,” Binay said.
“We will fine-tune the system to prepare the schools and the students to be ready for the changes.”
Binay said he would also replicate the University of Makati’s Dualized Education System nationwide to compliment K-12.
“K-12 must also be complemented by an apprenticeship program,” Binay said.
“Private sector enterprises—through their sectoral councils—must be encouraged to work with higher educational institutions in developing a college curriculum that is more attuned to the requirements of the labor market.”
