P500 monthly allowance for Manila teachers halted

MANILA, Philippines —It’s official: The city government of Manila will suspend a P500 monthly allowance for teachers, following a city audit memorandum in November citing the cash disbursement as “without legal basis.”

In a press statement, Ricardo de Guzman, chief of staff of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, stated it would keep in line with the memorandum, and denied that the city was obligated to pay the monthly allowance to public school teachers.

“With all due respect, the Manila government owes them nothing. That assistance was given out of the generosity of Mayor Alfredo Lim. It was not a city obligation, and it has always been subject to the availability of funds,” he said, in Filipino.

The same memo also cited the Salary Standardization Law which stated that “no funds shall be utilized to pay honoraria, allowances or other forms of compensation to any government official or employee, except those specifically authorized by law,” De Guzman pointed out.

De Guzman said that the memo questioned the P500 monthly allowance as a “double compensation,” since the teachers have already been receiving P2,000 monthly from the city under the Special Education Fund.

Last week, the Manila Public School Teachers Association (MPSTA) held a rally demanding for the P500 monthly allowance, which was not disbursed to its 11,500 members from July to December of 2010 and 2011. The allowance has otherwise been given out regularly since 2005 to cope with the increasing financial crisis, they claimed.

Informed of the city government’s decision to halt the allowance because of the COA memo, the MPSTA insisted that the issue would not end there.

“The same audit memorandum stated that we should present documents proving there is legal basis for the allowance. And we have,” MPSTA president Merlina Añonuevo said, in a phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Añonuevo insisted that the P500 monthly allowance has been included in the city’s General Fund Budget, under Manila city schools personal services, for 2010 and 2011. She said that in January, she had even received a report from the city accountant stating so.

She said she had personally submitted these documents to city officials to prove the legal basis for the monthly allowance, and that she has even met with city government about it in December.

“We’ve known about the COA memo since December and we have discussed it with the city officials. That they suddenly use it to justify their failure to give the allowance seems malicious. It causes confusion. It seems there is a legal conflict here,” she clarified.

She said that although they have been informed that the allowance was “subject to the availability of funds,” she questioned the low priority given to teachers. “Of what use are additional classrooms and text books, when there are no teachers?” she said.

She said the MPSTA has scheduled a meeting for Thursday to discuss the problem.