ISSUE:

The teachers are not so happy with the salary standardization increment.
DISCUSSION:
Under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III, he just signed on
February 19, 2016 the Salary Standardization Law granting the pay hike for
government workers. It is nice to hear such news because at last, the salary of the
government employees especially the teachers has been increased starting this
year. Many of us teachers are hoping and praying for this day to come. However,
there are issues being ensued among the teachers. One of them is that the
increment is not an offset to the years of waiting for salary increase under Aquinos
administration. Other issue is the unfairness of the increment because those who
have higher positions can really get higher increase. According to ACT Teacher
Partylist Representative Antonio Tinio, the public school teachers, nurses and rankand-file employees will receive the lowest share of increase under Aquinos SSL
2015, ranging from 11% to 22% over the next four years. On the other hand, for
executive-level positions, pay increases are 76.96% up to a whopping 233.12%.
Another concern for the teachers is that half of the increase will go to tax and GSIS
deductions. The only benefits that they like for SSL are the mid-year and year-end
bonuses where each is equivalent to one month salary which will be given on May
and November respectively.
REACTION/RECOMMENDATION:
When I first heard the news that President Aquino has finally signed the Executive
Order No. 201 entitled Modifying the Salary Schedule for Civilian Government
Personnel and Authorizing the Grant of Additional Benefits for Both Civilian and
Military and Uniformed Personnel which is called as the modified SSL 4, it was a
great news. However, there is something lurking behind my mind if this is really a
great benefit for us teachers. When I read the whole executive order, the only thing
that really catches my attention is the mid-year and year-end bonuses, each is
equivalent to one month salary being given in May and November. Yes, it would take
us months to wait for them and it is a great blessing. However, the increment is not
really enough for the teachers. Aside that it is unjust, it is also biased because those
people who are in the executive positions could get the highest increase through
this law. What about us teachers especially in the first-entry level? Apart from
nurses and rank-and-file employees, imagine that we, public school teachers, will
receive lowest share of increase. The mere amount of salary increase does not
justify our workloads. Aside from the fact that we are going to educate the learners
in which you need to prepare lesson plans, activities, learning materials, and do
assessments, there are a lot of paper works to be done which makes the work of a
teacher more tedious and stressful. And not only that, the price of all commodities
is increasing from time to time. Does this mean that our job is not that important in
the country? That is why we have the lowest increase among the government
employees? I dont think so. I know that our educational system is not highly
appreciated by other countries. But, there are teachers who really live by their
profession and put their hearts to it because they believe that education can really
change us for the better. The only worse that could happen are the people in the

higher positions in the educational system who have no visions for a quality
education. They just sit in their offices getting their bellies grow through time. This
is a reality existing from time immemorial.
I would highly recommend that they would have a more just and unbiased salary
standardization by giving more importance to those positions that have more
workloads. It is much better if those in the executive positions will have the lowest
share of increase or they will be an exemption of the increase. They must at least
think that the more they make people happy by paying their worthiness especially
those in the low level entries, the more they become effective and efficient in doing
their jobs. In this way, more takers will grab the opportunity and more positions will
be filled up. Why not make the teaching job more attractive by giving
compensations that are quality standard? Teaching jobs in other countries such as
Europe and Korea have the highest paying job among the professions. Why cant we
be like them? Because the answer is obvious, we are very far from behind compared
to these countries. If only the government is active enough since the beginning of
time in pursuing a high standard quality education, we would not have this kind of
inconvenience among teachers. Other than that, it would be better if there are tax
exemptions in the increase for teachers who earned 20,000 to 30,000 pesos as a
basic pay. Somehow, these taxes are not enjoyed by the people but only pocketed
by the corrupt officials. Also, they could have lessen the GSIS deductions so that we
could at least enjoy the meager increase. These things could somehow alleviate the
frustrations of the teachers if they become a reality.