Diokno should have sought ways instead of rebuffing idea of teacher pay hike —solon

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno should have looked for ways to increase teachers’ base pay instead of rebuffing it outrightl, said a party-list congresswoman representing teachers on Saturday.

“Sana naman sundin na ni Secretary Diokno yung utos ni President Duterte na humanap ng paraan na katulad ng ginawa niya sa ating mga kapulisan at saka mga military,” said ACT Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro at a news forum in Quezon City.

She was reacting to the statement made by Diokno on the heels of the announcement that President Rodrigo Duterte has instructed the Department of Budget and Management to seek ways to increase teachers’ salary, where the budget chief said it was “not a priority at this time.”

“Kung makaguro si Secretary Diokno, humanap muna siya ng paraan at hindi agad niya sinopla itong intensyon ng ating Pangulong Duterte para sa pagtaas ng sweldo ng mga teachers,” Castro said.

The same party-list group that Castro represents called Diokno “teacher’s public enemy #1” for his statement. Senators from the Liberal Party have also decried his remarks.

Castro claimed that the government could tap into the “P500 to P600-B” corporate tax from private companies if only the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs were efficient in their collections.

The salary of a rookie police officer will double on the first payday of 2018, after the President signed a joint resolution authorizing a base pay hike for police officers, soldiers, and other uniformed personnel.

Castro said that while they welcome Duterte’s supposed pronouncement of a teacher pay hike, the question is “when” and “how much.”

“Hindi naman masyadong ambisyoso ang mga guro, ang gusto nga nila kung di lang nasabing doble ni Secretary Roque eh di na umasa eh, sana man lang ang benchmark ay yung sa mga uniformed personnel na P29,000,” she said. — MDM, GMA News