For Poorly Paid Public-School Teachers, a Daily Struggle to Make Ends Meet

Published on May 30, 2009

By JUAN ANGELO A. HONGO
Bulatlat

MANILA — The working class regards the 15th and 30th day of the month as their best days. But for Marissa Martinez, it means having to look for ways to tighten her belt even more to prepare for more difficult days ahead.

“Life is very difficult nowadays. You have to be very frugal. While for others, receiving their salaries mean they could buy the things they want. For me, every time I receive my salary, I have to think of ways to stretch our budget to cover our needs,” Martinez said.

As a teacher for 16 years at the Macario B. Asistio Senior High School in Malabon, Martinez strives to budget the family’s income to provide for the needs of her husband, three children, and her mother who suffers from diabetes.

The struggle for higher salaries has long been the Filipino public-school teachers’ painstaking battle. With Joint Resolution No. 36 or Salary Standardization Law Part 3 (SSL3), the battle is not about to end yet.

Article 3 Section 15A of Republic Act 4670, also known as the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, states that a public-school teacher’s salary should “compare favorably with those paid in other occupations requiring equivalent or similar qualifications, training and abilities.”.

In 1995 the teachers’ salaries were increased, but at present their average salary is still inadequate.

According to Benjamin Valbuena, vice chairman of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), the current salary of public-school teachers is not enough to cope with the cost of living.

“What we (teachers) call for is an upgrading of our status from Grade 10 to Grade 18 because Grade 18 is where the poverty threshold is. We need this to have a decent and better life given today’s standard of living,” Valbuena said in Filipino.

A Teacher’s Struggle

For Martinez, this upgrade would come a long way. As it is, she tries to budget her income, saving the biggest part of it for food. The rest, like things for the house, medication for her mother, and electrical and water bills would only be accommodated if there is money left.

Where to find the money to pay for the monthly rent is a dilemma for her. They live in an apartment which costs P5,500 ($116) per month. At one point they went without electricity for three months.

“The electric utility company Meralco disconnected our electricity service for three months because we failed to pay the bill. At that time, my mother was confined in a hospital. I figured, my mother’s health is more important,” Martinez recounted.

To cope with today’s cost of living, Martinez attempted various ways of earning money aside from what she’s getting from teaching. She applied as a dealer of soaps and beauty products, but she admitted that her “sideline” didn’t earn her enough.

“Despite my other job, I still don’t earn enough. Sometimes, my customers fail to pay the products they bought on time so I have to advance the payment to be able to remit money to the office,” Martinez added.

Salary Grade Distortion

An ACT position paper showed how the proposed SSL3 can worsen the salary grade distortion.

“SSL3 will maintain and further worsen the salary grade distortion. Why should teachers be only a salary grade higher from Grade 10, and thus receive only what an AFP sergeant receives? This distortion contradicts the meaning of equity, justice and democracy,” the ACT paper read.

ACT further criticized SSL3 for its provision increasing the power or authority of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Office of the President to decide the “standardization” of teachers’ salaries, benefits and classification of positions.

“Seemingly, the DBM is being given a blanket authority to set policies and regulations regarding allowances. They could reduce our allowances while supposedly increasing our salary,” Valbuena explained.

They see the provision as the result of a conspiracy between the DBM and the Office of the President.

“We believe that the order came from Malacanang. Our demand is for an effective increase of P9,000 ($190) per month, they said the government could only afford P6,000 ($126), “ said Valbuena.

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3 Responses to “For Poorly Paid Public-School Teachers, a Daily Struggle to Make Ends Meet”

Dina Says:
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:38 am
Yes, teachers absolutely should earn much more than they are currently earning, although "raise per performance" would be more beneficial than just giving them all a raise.

This article also highlight a problem that you see in Filipino culture that's not addressed here – that of a single wage earner supporting several family members while their relatives don't contribute, happy to accept handouts and be a drain and a leech on the bread winner. This article doesn't mention the reason why that teacher's husband is not working. Maybe he has a valid reason, but too many families I see have "heads of household" or other able-bodied people who are content to let someone else do all the work. Society condones this – why? It is shameful. People should be embarrassed to be leeches on others and yet they brag about it.
Scarlet Says:
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:11 pm
I think that teachers are not paid enough. Why are they not pain more when the taxes that we pay for public schools are being raised every year… Were is that money going. We know that it is not going to the teachers.
joy ortega Says:
March 19th, 2010 at 4:48 am
i have always dreamed of becoming a teacher. teachers not being paid enough doesn't bring me to discouragement. being a teacher is a passion, something i would love to do. but how will i pursue my other dreams every woman would dream of? i simply pertain to having a family – not so rich but just having enough. i consider teachers as heroes. i hope govt will put an action to this because teachers are the reasons why we have doctors, engineers, businessmen, and other professionals.