Two militant lawmakers on Friday urged the Department of Education to set aside funds for the salary increase and benefits of public school teachers.
ACT Teachers party-List Reps. France Castro and Antonio Tinio said the funds should be included in the proposed 2019 national budget as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte to his economic managers.
“With the forthcoming April 19, 2018 deadline for the submission of the departments’ budget proposals to [Department of Budget and Management], we demand the DepEd leadership to finally heed the call of public school teachers by ensuring that the P29,668 minimum entry-level salary and the funding for benefits in the Magna Carta For Public School Teachers such as free medical examination and treatment at least once a year and overtime pay be reflected in their proposal,” said Castro.
Castro said she already raised the issue with DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones during the 2018 national budget deliberations last August but they seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
She added that Briones, as DepEd secretary, should implement the Magna Carta and other laws and agreements concerning the rights and welfare of teachers.
Tinio, for his part, batted for the inclusion of funds for the implementation the 2015 Collective Negotiation Agreement between the Alliance of Concerned Teachers-National Capital Region Union which is crafted to ensure that the 62,000 public school teachers they represent receive the economic benefits under the Magna Carta and be provided provisions for better working conditions.
“Since the signing of the CNA in 2015, the Union’s lobbying efforts, especially for their CNA incentives, every budget deliberations had been consistently denied.” Tinio noted. “This anti-union stance, however, did not stop public school teachers’ union in Regions VI and XI from successfully concluding their own CNAs with their respective regional offices,” he said. Maricel V. Cruz
Castro pointed out that the funds for CNA incentives should have a separate line item in the national budget and must not be sourced from savings in the maintenance and other operating expenses since even the DepEd leadership itself admits that year in and year out, the funds allocated are always not enough to provide for the needs of the schools.
“CNAs are the public school teachers’ voice in the policy-making process, a right that must be recognized and even encouraged by the government as its constitutional mandate. For one, ACT-NCR Union’s CNA is a push for the implementation of Magna Carta benefits that remained unfunded ever since its enactment five decades ago,” Tinio said.
“It is high time that this government give what is due to them- salaries and benefits that will not only make ends meet but will also be commensurate with their skills, training and heavy workload,” Castro added.
“We call on the DepEd and the DBM to include the salary increase and benefits of teachers, non-teaching personnel and all rank-and-file government employees in their 2019 budget proposals,” the two lawmakers said.
“We ask the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee to welcome and support these come budget deliberations. Lastly, we appeal to our fellow legislators in both houses of Congress, let’s work together for the advancement of teachers’ rights and welfare,” they added.
