ALLIANCE OF CONCERNED TEACHERS
2/F Teachers’ Center, Mines St. cor. Dipolog St., Bgy. VASRA, Quezon City, Philippines
Telefax  453-9116  Mobile 0920-9220817 Email  act_philippines@yahoo.com Website  www.actphils.com
Member, Education International
May 1, 2008
NEWS RELEASE
Reference: Antonio L. Tinio (0920-9220817)
      ACT Chairperson
Teachers call for big pay hike, join Labor Day commemoration
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers joined in the worldwide commemoration of Labor Day, calling for a sizeable salary increase amid steep hikes in food and energy prices.
Around 50 teachers gathered at the Liwasang Bonifacio in the morning and set up a “noodle line,” serving instant noodles to each other and partaking of the frugal meal to dramatize the economic hardship currently being experienced by teachers and other lowly paid professionals. Instant noodles are now becoming the staple food for many poor families in lieu of rice. The price of rice has soared in recent months, selling for over PhP 30 per kilogram.
“Many teachers, especially those with large families, are now forced to line up for hours at National Food Authority outlets to access the much cheaper government-subsidized rice,” observed ACT Chairperson Antonio Tinio. “Without a substantial salary increase, how can teachers make ends meet once the government pushes through with its plan to limit access to the subsidized rice only to the poorest families?” Government-subsidized NFA rice sells for PhP 18.25 per kilogram.
The militant teachers’ group called for the immediate granting of a PhP 3,000 across-the-board salary increase for teachers and other government employees to restore the purchasing power of their income. Tinio cited government statistics showing that today’s minimum wage of PhP 350 is able to buy a mere PhP 234 worth of goods at year 2000 prices, when the minimum wage was PhP 250. “In other words, in real terms, we’re all earning less than we did eight years ago. Our demand for the immediate granting of a PhP 3,000 is merely meant to restore some of that lost purchasing power,” said Tinio.
ACT also called for the passage of legislation to upgrade the salaries of public school teachers. “We support Sen. Loren Legarda’s Senate Bill 1611 which calls for the reclassification of teachers from salary grade 10 to 19. Our current salary grade doesn’t do justice to the teaching profession and the important role teachers play in society. We’re on the same pay grade as privates in the Armed Forces,” said Tinio. “The salary upgrading bill is meant to correct that.” If passed, teachers’ basic pay will jump from PhP 10,933 to PhP 18,471. “This is the same pay grade as a newly-commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the AFP,” noted Tinio.
Around two hundred teachers joined the Labor Day rally led by the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno at the Liwasang Bonifacio in the afternoon. The rallyists then marched to Mendiola to conclude the day’s activities. #