Marcos urged: pay DepEd teachers' incentives in full

A House leader on Tuesday called on Malacañang to immediately order the release of funds for the payment of the Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) for public school teachers, which he said has long been overdue.

House Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio of the ACT Teachers party-list said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should direct the release of teachers’ SRI “as soon as possible.”

Tinio said the SRI, which should amount to P20,000, has only been paid in installments, with teachers receiving a maximum of just P14,500 so far.

“Nanawagan po tayo kay Pangulong Marcos Jr. at sa DBM na kagyat na bayaran na ng buo ang service recognition incentive ng mga guro at kawani ng Department of Education. May utang po ang national government sa kanila. Accounts payable po ito,” he said.

(We call on the President and the Department of Budget and Management to pay the SRI in full. The national government owes this to the teachers.)

The SRI is authorized each year under personnel services allocations in the national budget and becomes enforceable once the General Appropriations Act (GAA) is signed into law by the President.

Government officials have described the SRI as a form of recognition for the service rendered by public sector employees over the year. For teachers, this includes classroom instruction, administrative duties, and participation in government-mandated activities such as elections and disaster response.

The incentive is also meant to help make up for low pay and give teachers a boost, especially with the increasing cost of living.

Tinio lamented that while other government employees have already received their SRI in full, teachers are still waiting for the complete payment.

“Ang ibang mga government employees, natanggap na po ito ng buo bago pa matapos ang taon. Malamang nagastos na nga nila. Pero yung mga teachers at employees natin ng DepEd, naghihintay pa rin na makumpleto ang kanilang SRI,” he said.

(Other government employees already received the full amount before the end of the year and have likely already spent it. But our teachers and DepEd personnel are still waiting for their SRI to be completed.)

Tinio urged the Department of Budget and Management to expedite the processing and release of the remaining balance so teachers can receive the full P20,000 they are entitled to.

“Ibigay na po nang buo ang deserve ng mga teachers natin at mga kawani ng DepEd (Give our teachers and DepEd personnel the full amount they deserve)," Tinio added.

Budget watch

Also on Tuesday, House Public Accounts Committee chairperson Terry Ridon of the Bicol Saro party-list said his panel will work with various departments and agencies to ensure the proper implementation of their projects and programs.

“We will press the DPWH to deliver on its commitment to live-stream all procurement activities at the national, regional, and district levels, and we call on other agencies to do the same,” Ridon said in a separate statement, referring to the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Ridon’s statement comes amid concerns over a repeat of fund-related scandals that previously rocked several government agencies, particularly in the implementation of infrastructure projects.

“We will closely monitor the direct implementation by the DepEd and the DA of their school-building and farm-to-market road programs, respectively, to ensure that the problems experienced during previous DPWH implementation will not happen again,” he said, referring to the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture.

“This includes ensuring that blacklisted DPWH contractors will not be able to participate in DepEd and DA procurement activities,” Ridon added.—MCG, GMA Integrated News