I

TH U RSDAY AUGUST 22, 2OL9 I

ACT lambasts
proposal to give
teachers'paltry'
salary increase
TI{E Alliance of Concerned Teachers
. protested the P3l-billion allotment
I for salary increase of govemment
i employees based on the proposed 2W0
I budget submitted by the budget €ency
to Congress yesterday. ACT said that
the allotnent would only amount to a
"measly PI ,845 monthly increase or P6 i
pet day'' if the 1.2 million goveqp:nt
will be given equnl.FilFes.
l:fne te?chers rye,very ai$efbte*
This is not what hesidetil Dut€rte,has
promised us. This amount does not eve,lr
fit the definition of 'enough to tide us
over.' We need substantial salary inctease,
not sunrbs. This is unacceptable,'cried
Joselyn Martinea ACT chqiryerson.
Martinez called out the Duterte
administration's' favoritism of the police
andthe military. She said it is 'exfremely
unfair'for the governrnent to spend P76
billion for the salary increase of more
than 300,000 uniformedpersonnel but is
only willing to give 'less than half of the
arnount for civilian employees who are
four-folds in ntrnber.'
'"The Dut€rte government's salaxy
scheme tells so much of its partiatity to
war and repressio'n over life, education
and basic services. Clearly, all offuesidelrt
Dnterteis sweet talk about 'malasakit'is
but a farce. Nafutene k&ni, perc hindi
kani papayag! n' said Martinez.
Ivlartinez wamed that the ac'tual plamed
pay hike for teachers might even be lower
th& their calculations as 'previous Salary
Sgndardization l"aws always gave less
to pnk-and-file enrployees and more to
high officials.'She said given Education
:Secretary Briones'stance that salaries of
public school teachers should not be too
far from what privaie school teachers are
paid, teachers have all the reason to be
more wonied.

1\ FAgtr-43tt