By Ma. Teresa Montemayor/Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for calling on members of the 18th Congress to pass a new Salary Standardization Law (SSL).
In a statement, the agency said Duterte’s direction is “consistent with Secretary Leonor Briones’s commitment to ensure an equitable and sustainable pay hike and to continue the efforts that have expanded the scope of welfare of the department’s teaching and non-teaching personnel”.
“The new SSL will increase the compensation of government workers, including public school teachers whose work and toil shape the mind of the youth and build the foundation of a strong country,” the DepEd statement read.
“The Department hopes that this gain will help to further uplift the professional and personal condition of teachers as DepEd continues to work from enhancing access to improving the quality of basic education,” it added.
In his fourth State of the Nation Address, Duterte urged Congress to pass a new SSL that would increase the salary of public school teachers and other government employees.
“To the teachers who toil and work tirelessly to educate our young, kasali na po dito ‘yung hinihingi niyo…hindi masyadong malaki pero (your request is included here… it’s not too much) it will tide you over,” Duterte said.
In February 2016, former president Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order 201 which mandated a salary hike for state workers which was given in four tranches until 2019.
On Tuesday, Budget and Management Officer-in-Charge Janet Abuel said studies are ongoing for the proposed increase in the salaries of government workers, with the first of three tranches likely to start next year.
She said the plan is to implement the salary increase within a three-year period or from 2020 to 2022.
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