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Teachers demand P3,000 and COLA

BAGUIO CITY (Dec. 7) — Heeding the national call to press for the P3,000 salary increase and payment of back COLA (Cost of Living Allowance), some 250 teachers from around 20 schools under the newly-formed Coalition for Teachers’ Welfare (CTW), held a Candle-Lighting Ceremony at the People’s Park here.

Wearing pins that bear these calls, teachers reiterated the validity of their demands, Ms. Irene Nabunat of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) – Metro Baguio, recalled during the gathering that the the GMA administration has not responded to the P3000 salary increase demand, which has been a campaign since 1999. Since then, the real value of the peso has continuously gone down, yet the salaries of teachers have stagnated. The gross salary of a new teacher is only P9,900, a very far cry from the government set poverty threshold at P18,000 for a family of 6. She further called on government to release the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) with the Supreme Court ruling already stating that government workers are due their COLA since 1989 and with Malacañang acknowledging such accountability to government workers.

Santiago Bugtong of the Bakakeng Elementary School stressed the important relationship of advancing quality education and recognizing teachers’ rights and welfare. He said that the role of the teacher in national development cannot be underestimated and must be given the dignity they deserve and that can only come from providing them sufficiently to meet their basic needs.

Bugtong and Brenda Cariño of the Baguio City National High School challenged teachers to join forces in the Coalition for Teachers’ Welfare towards a common goal of advancing the teachers’ rights and welfare. Both marked this occasion as just the beginning of more activities that the coalition will undertake.

Lighting candles that symbolized hope for the success of the P3000 and COLA campaigns, the teachers prayed for unity and strength especially in these times of economic and political crises in the country.

ACT, in a statement said government’s positive response to the teachers’ demands would surely be a relief from the continuous price increases of almost all goods and services especially with the implementation of the Expanded Value-Added Tax (EVAT) and the continuous oil price hikes.

The participation of the Metro Baguio teachers in this national action was an offshoot of training on the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers sponsored by the ACT – Metro Baguio on December 2 at the PNA Bldg. here. # Connie Sulang for NORDIS

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