President Rodrigo Duterte has instructed his economic advisers to look for sources of funding for the salary increase of public school teachers as a new school year started.
The President had repeatedly promised public school teachers since 2015 that their salaries would be raised or even doubled. The teachers are asking for a raise of P10,000 for them to catch up with rising prices and the cost of basic services. However his economic managers had brought up budgetary concerns relative to the proposed increase.. Education Secretary Leonor Briones had likewise said an increase of P10,000 would cost P150 billion. For his part Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) secretary general Raymond Basilio said Briones’ statements speak of her embarrassing lack of empathy to and shameless contempt of teachers. The teachers are also asking why the government quickly found funds to double the salaries of the police and the military.
