Teachers to take fight for wage hike to house

MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of teachers are expected to descend on the House of Representatives tomorrow, Sept. 3, to prevent their calls for a substantial wage hike from being pushed to the back burner as legislators head into the thick of 2020 budget deliberations.

The so-called “Grand Lobbying for Salary Increase” — planned to coincide with the House’s scheduled hearing on the Department of Education budget — is being organized by Salary Increase Solidarity, a network of education workers.

Tuesday’s protest action is just one component of an aggressive lobbying campaign being mounted by the network, which has decried the “pitiful” P31 billion allocation proposed by the Department of Budget and Management for a raise in all government workers’ salaries.

“September opens Teachers’ Month and we hope that our lawmakers will be reminded to honor our teachers and education workers by recompensing our service and contributions to the nation with a dignifying salary increase,” said the group’s convener, Cristina Manalo.

As President Rodrigo Duterte has wavered in his promise of a pay hike, teachers have increasingly seen Congress as the likeliest and most sympathetic ally in their longtime fight for higher pay.

43 pending bills

There are currently 10 bills in the Senate and 33 in the House related to a wage hike for civil servants.

Teachers have stepped up their lobbying efforts with fresh urgency as former President Benigno Aquino III’s order that provided government workers a yearly pay raise expired this year.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers, one of 17 groups that have joined Salary Increase Solidarity, said that if spread evenly, the proposed P31 billion would mean a monthly raise of only P1,845 for all public sector workers.