WITH runaway inflation at 5.4 percent and a new round of big-time oil price hike, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers called on the Marcos administration to give teachers a salary increase, a promise not fulfilled by outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Nagtaasan na ang lahat ng bilihin at tataas pa muli ang mga ito sa susunod na araw, pero kinalimutan na talaga ni Pangulong Duterte ang pangako niya sa mga guro. Nabudol na naman kami pero sana ay makinig ang susunod na administrasyon sa hirap na dinaranas ng mga guro at ang pangangailangan ng makabuluhang pagtaas sa kanilang sahod,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

“The low salaries of teachers are not commensurate to their needs and that of their families and to the indispensable role of teachers in delivering education to millions of youth. Our teachers’ economic hardships stem from the very basic problem of low salaries,” he added.

“What we cannot understand is why is the Duterte administration hellbent on letting us teachers and consumers suffer by not suspending the excise tax on oil? Parang ang linya ng Malacañang ngayon ay mamatay na kayong lahat basta makakolekta kami ng buwis,” Basilio said.

Among Duterte’s campaign promises was the doubling of teachers’ salaries, which he repeated several times after being elected in office.

However, only policemen and soldiers’ pay were doubled to at least P29,668 while teachers were only given around P1,500 annual increase through the Salary Standardization Law V.

“With DepEd’s earlier acknowledgment that teachers in fact struggle financially, we urge them to join us in demanding the long overdue pay hike for nearly a million of its employees. Teachers deserve decent pay. We call on the government to finally upgrade teachers’ salaries to salary grade 15,” Basilio said.