Pasay realigns intel fund to restore teachers’ Cola

The city government of Pasay and its public school teachers, who recently clashed over the 66-percent cut in the latter’s monthly cost of living allowance (Cola), have arrived at a win-win solution.

In an Oct. 24 letter to Estrellita Puti-an, assistant school division superintendent in Pasay, Mayor Antonino Calixto said the city government would restore the previous Cola at P3,500.

The amount was reduced by the city government to P1,200 in September, seven months after the local Commission on Audit (COA) representative noted in a memorandum that allowances and other benefits of public school teachers should be pegged at P1,200 based on Local Budget Circular No. 23 which was issued by the Department of Budget and Management in 1997.

The cut sparked protest actions at City Hall, with the Federation of Pasay Public School Teachers’ Associations arguing that the circular had been declared null and void by the Supreme Court in the case of Judge Tomas Leynes vs COA.

Calixto’s letter to Puti-an said the Cola would remain at P3,500 for the last quarter of the year.

In a phone interview, Pasay City government spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the mayor had asked the city council to pass two ordinances—Nos. 5454 and 5555—reappropriating P63 million of the city’s general fund to the teachers’ Cola.

The P63 million was supposedly meant for the city’s security, intelligence surveillance and traffic management systems.

“COA recommended that the city should limit the teacher’s Cola to P1,200 coming from the special education fund. But it doesn’t prevent us from taking the additional allowance of the teachers from the city’s general fund,” Malaya said.

Reached for comment, Salvador Albotra, teachers’ federation president, said: “We are happy that the city government has listened to us. But we are still waiting for this promise to be fulfilled and reflected in our payrolls. ”