Duterte: Gov’t working on salary hike for teachers but there are millions of them

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday assured public school teachers that his government would raise their salaries even as he took note of their number.

Teachers have been asking for a pay hike especially after Congress approved a 100-percent increase in the base pay of military and other uniformed personnel that took effect last year.

“We're working on it like what I have promised. But remember that there are millions of teachers,” Duterte said in a speech before newly elected officials of Cagayan de Oro City.

He defended his decision to prioritize the salary increase for the police and military, saying there’s “only few of them” and a nation should have a strong armed forces. 

“They have taken an oath of office, joined an organization inside the government that... If I tell them to go to Malabang in Lanao del Sur because there's war, ‘Jump straight to hell and die,’ they will do that. Go there and fight until you die,” he said.

“That's why I understand.  If you want a strong country, you need to have a strong army. Nothing will happen if you have a weak armed forces. They are weak and you cannot enforce the law.”

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said last week that raising a teacher's pay by P10,000 a month as proposed by some groups would cost the government P150 billion.

Briones said she has been working with the economic team of the government to find measures to increase the salary of  830,000 teachers.

According to Briones, the fiscal impact of the salary increase should be considered and assessed, and that there is an equity issue in relation to issues of other government personnel that need to be addressed.

Briones also said the salaries of public school teachers have already improved, resulting in the migration of private school teachers to public schools.

An entry-level public school teacher earns P20,754 a month with P2,000 worth of Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA), a monthly allowance granted to government employees due to rising cost of living, according to the Department of Education. — BAP, GMA News