Administration Senator Jinggoy Estrada assured public school teachers that he would look into their salaries and benefits to ensure that it is commensurate with their workload. In an interview, the incoming Chairman of the Committee on Labor stressed that he understands the clamor from teaching personnel for higher pay.
“Pagtutuunan po natin ng pansin yang pagtaas ng sweldo ng ating mga gruo sa pang publikong paaralan dahil ang pagiging isang guro ay isang marangal na trabaho, ngunit talagang noong araw pa napaka baba na ng kanilang tinatanggap na sahod, kaya talagang nakaka awa rin itong ating mga guro lalong-lalo na sila yung naatasan na magbilang ng mga boto at kinakailangan talaga bigyan ng karagdagang sahod ang ating mga guro sa public schools,” Estrada said.
The lawmaker further said that a salary increase is necessary not only to compensate for the additional workload brought about by the blended learning at the onset of the lockdown due to the COVID19 pandemic but, more importantly, to prevent teachers from leaving the country to work abroad.
Marami talaga ang mas pinili ang mag abroad kahit na underemployed dahil mas malaki ang kita nila doon. In a 2019 data, ang basic salary ng Teacher 1 ay nasa P20,574, paano naman mapapagkasya yan sa sunod-sunod na taas ng presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin? Dagdag pa dyan ang hirap ng pandemic dahil sa online classes, gastos sa load para sa data or internet connection,” he added.
Estrada, however, underscored that any proposed salary increase is highly dependent on the country’s reserves but assured that once certified by the National Treasury, he sees no reason why the Senate will not approve the measure.
“It all boils down to funding. Basta’t may budget madali, basta sesertipikahan ng National Treasury na may pera napakadali pong ipasa, basta may availability of funds para itaas ang sweldo ng ating mga guro, mga kapulisan, mga military, kasundaluhan napaka dali pongipasa yung mga ganitong klaseng batas.”