Incoming senator urged to raise public school teachers’ pay

MANILA, Philippines — As the opening of classes in June nears, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers of the Philippines (ACT Teachers) on Saturday challenged senator-elect Christopher “Bong” Go to fulfill his campaign promise to support teachers by filing a counterpart bill for the increase of their salary.

ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said they were poised to refile a bill when the 18th Congress opens on July 1 to increase the salary of Teacher 1 to P30,000, P16,000 for nonteaching personnel, and P31,000 for instructors in state universities.

A counterpart bill in the Senate could help push the legislative agenda for 800,000 public school teachers under the Department of Education, the group said, as President Duterte has yet to provide a concrete response to the teachers’ appeal.

During his campaign, the former special assistant to the President had vowed to push for the increase of public school teachers’ pay if given a Senate seat.

The teachers dared Go “not to break their hearts” as he reiterated in his proclamation speech that the raising of teachers’ salaries was his third priority legislation.—Mariejo S. Ramos