PROMDI Presidential candidate Sen. Manny Pacquiao said his administration will double the salary of all government teachers and would intervene to also improve the living standards of their counterparts in the private sector to restore dignity in the teaching profession.
Over the years, he said the living standards of many teachers have miserably deteriorated that many of them even resort to loan sharks and in dubious networking schemes just to get by.
He added that despite their status as educators, many teachers are still living in slums or are renting in squalid apartments because of the lack of support by the government.
While he is thankful that President Duterte went out of his way to increase the salaries of those in the uniformed service, Pacquiao said it is equally important that the government should also look after the welfare of the country’s teachers and health care workers.
He noted that during the pandemic, health care workers and teachers are the most important civilian sectors as they cater to public health and the education of our children.
“It is time for the new President to resolve this injustice in their working conditions,” he said.
In order to finance the wage increase of government teachers, Pacquiao said the government would get funds from various sources, including its savings from corruption which is around P700 billion to P1 trillion a year.
He would also stop allocating hefty budgets for intelligence and discretionary funds ang realign these for the salary increase of the teachers and health care workers.
For the private sector, Pacquiao said that he would ask Congress to review the labor standards in private schools and see if the health care and educational sector can have a legislated wage increase.
He would also ask the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) and the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) to revamp the current minimum wage for teachers.