There has long been a clamor for the Philippine government to increase the salary of public school teachers. President Rodrigo Duterte recently assured teachers that the salary hike will be approved this year! That’s definitely good news.
When Duterte doubled the salaries of the country’s uniformed personnel in 2018 as fulfillment of his campaign promise back in 2016, a lot of teachers were hoping he would also do the same for the Department of Education (DepEd). But so did everyone else working in the government!
The president, along with DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, led the groundbreaking ceremony of Gen. Gregorio Del Pilar National High School (NHS) in Brgy. Sta. Ana, Bulakan, Bulacan last January 10, 2019.
Photo credit: DepEd
“Kayo ang isusunod ko this year. Kayo ang pinakamarami,” Duterte promised.
“I am willing to strike a deal in the presence of Secretary Briones (DepEd Secretary) sa mga maestra. You can choose the date January, bilisan lang ninyo then we can make even an agreement or manifesto or choose whatever kind of document, kayo ang isusunod ko this year.”
To make sure this will happen soon, the president also invited the representatives of all public school teachers to plan and finalize the agreement for the pay hike in a meeting at the Malacañang Palace.
“Nanay ko teacher. Ako ba naman magloko sa inyo but I was talking to Diokno at the year end to find out how things are, could we afford,” the president added.
Photo credit: DepEd
Right now, the budget for 2019 has been approved; thus, there will be no more room for the pay hike for teachers this year. However, the president said that the budget department is already working on the government pay hike from 2020 to 2022.
Duterte assured teachers that their pay hike will be included in this upcoming budget; though he did not mention whether the salary increase will also be double, just like the one he gave to the country’s uniformed personnel.
I, myself is also a chemist, not yet license though. I left he lab for the love of teaching, and right now I am on my 12th year of teaching, six years in DepEd.