Education Secretary Leonor Briones admitted that the government has to allocate around P150 billion should public school teachers receive a salary increase of P10,000 per month. This estimate does not even include the public teachers’ performance bonus.
Should the hike get approved, the taxpayers will be the one to carry the burden of covering the additional salary. The P10,000 per month is to be given permanently and not just for a short period. The P150 billion will come the tax payer’s money.
Briones had noted that the teachers already received their Salary Standardization Law. This has raised the entry-level teacher’s salary to P20,754.
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Additionally, teachers are also compensated during the two-month summer vacation and on Election Day serving as the board during the polls.
In the end, Briones also added that considering the rate they are going, teachers are not the ones suffering the most. She encouraged teachers to consider the state of other public service providers. Any pay raise received by teachers should also be accompanied by the wage hike of other government employees and underpaid professionals like nurses.
Briones said that no man is an island. While education is an important sector “beloved by all” teachers should also “love everybody else”.