Teachers to mark 1st day of classes with rally

MANILA, Philippines - Militant public school teachers will greet the opening of classes on Monday, June 1, with a rally. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said more than 500 teachers would march the streets toward Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City to condemn the impending passage of “Salary Standardization Law 3." SSL 3 seeks to grant a P6,500 pay increase to public sector employees over the next four years. ACT said this is “substantially less" than what they are asking for. “Spread out over four years, this will translate to a mere P1,625 monthly increase per year. This is substantially less than our demand for a Php 9,000 hike over the next three three years," said ACT national chairperson Antonio Tinio. The House of Representatives and the Senate had recently approved their respective versions of the new salary law for government employees. Tinio said the legislation approved by both houses also failed to address distortions in the government’s standardized pay scale that placed teachers at a disadvantage. He said these distortions were worsened when the Arroyo administration upgraded the salaries of military personnel in 2002. “An Army private currently receives a higher total monthly compensation than a public school teacher. A cadet in the Philippine Military Academy receives the same basic pay as an associate professor in one of our state universities and colleges. The SSL 3 will perpetuate this injustice to the teaching profession," Tinio said. Tinio called on legislators from both chambers of Congress to introduce amendments to the legislation when the bicameral conference committee meets to finalize the SSL 3. - GMANews.TV