ROMUALDEZ, ANGPIN IN ASEAN SUMMIT. Speaker Martin Romualdez, with Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Secretary Zenaida Angpin pose for a picture during the opening rites of the 40th and 41st Asean Summit and Related summits being held at Sokha Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo by VER NOVENO
Salary hike pushed
DUE to high inflation, the government must make salary increase a priority.
ACT teachers Representative France Castro made this call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government as she expressed concern over the rising cost of basic commodities affecting those Filipinos who are earning minimum salary.
“Napapanahon na para gawing prayoridad ng administrasyon ni President Marcos Jr. ang pagpapataas ng sahod at sweldo ng mga manggagawa sa pribado at pampublikong sector,” Castro said.
According to the IBON Foundation, the family living wage as of October 2022 is already at P1,133 per day.
This is far from the P570 minimum wage for NCR workers, while workers from other regions have it worse with lower minimum wages and higher cost of living compared to NCR cities, Castro added.
Even the salaries of public school teachers fall short of the family living wage. The entry-level salary for public school teachers only amounts to P25,439. That is only P837 per day when divided into the thirty (30) days of the month
Castro lamented that on top of that, they use their already measly salaries to buy school supplies, gadgets, and other materials used to aid them in their teaching and cope with the demands of the education department for 21st-century teachers because the support they receive from the government is insufficient.
Following this development, Castro said they are urging Congress to immediately pass House Bill 203 Upgrading the Salary Grade of public school teachers to Salary Grade 15.
“The inflation rate is already at 7.7 percent last October and economic experts do not see this number going down anytime soon. In fact, some are expecting the economic situation in our country to get even worse,” she said.
“The Marcos administration must do something to ease the rising prices of basic goods. Increase salaries and wages to give the people more purchasing power and remove VAT and other taxes on essential goods, especially oil products. These are concrete steps that would give the people immediate relief,” Castro added.
They are also urging Marcos to certify wage and salary bills in Congress as urgent.
