THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers again criticized the Department of Education for its failure to include in its consultations on the twice-a-month pay scheme duly accredited unions who hold the status of Sole and Exclusive Negotiating Agent in five regions, namely National Capital Region, Region V, Region VI, Region VII, and Region XI.

The group also hit the agency’s alleged attempt to “save face” by posting support statements from two other teachers’ organizations.

“In an attempt to save face, DepEd tried to find support from teachers’ organizations for their widely assailed policy effecting a twice a month release of salaries. That immediately backfired after scores of teachers commented on the agency’s post indicating their continued opposition to the new policy,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

“It is very clear that DepEd does not have the support of its personnel because it never held genuine consultations prior to the implementation of this new payment scheme. ACT has accredited unions in 5 regions and registered unions in the rest—none of whom have been consulted, neither has our national office been contacted regarding this,” he added.

The group stressed the importance of democratic consultation in the crafting and implementation of policies that will have a huge impact on the lives of teachers.

“The lack of consultation and observance of democratic processes are grave disregard of teachers’ right to be heard in matters directly affecting their profession. DepEd’s failure to consult ACT unions denied teachers of their right to representation,” Basilio said.

ACT reiterated its call to DepEd to suspend the implementation of the 15/30 payment scheme.

“Had DepEd asked our teachers and even the non-teaching personnel, they would have seen the massive, unnecessary inconvenience brought by this change. A lot of them has expressed struggles with the new scheme, particularly in terms of budgeting and payment of bills. Teachers are now grappling with figuring out a way to meet the deadlines of bills given that the full amount of their salaries will now come at a later date. They also fear the compounding of arrears in their loans due to possible delays in payment. Meanwhile, salaries of teachers with loans from Landbank—where DepEd salaries also go through—are also withheld until the end of the month, or when the bank can deduct the full monthly payment,” Basilio said.