THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to “rectify” the government’s neglect of teachers and the education sector amid the pandemic by ordering the grant of P1,500 monthly internet allowance.

The group made the call amid teachers’ complaints of measly communication expense reimbursement, and the Department of Education’s declaration that it lacks funds and legal basis to grant a higher internet allowance.

“The lack of funding and legal basis are old and tired reasons. Had the Duterte government gave enough importance to education amid the pandemic, these should have been resolved by now,” the group said.

“2021 na, nagkaroon na ng Bayanihan 1 and 2 at aprubado na ang 2021 budget, bakit wala pa rin? The ball is now in the hands of the President to fulfill its overdue obligation to teachers and the rest of the education sector by ordering the immediate release of internet allowance for our teachers,” Raymond Basilio, ACT secretary general, said.

Basilio said that the President has a number of options to provide legal basis for the grant of internet allowance to teachers. He can issue an administrative order or certify as urgent ACT Teachers Partylist’s House Bill 7034 that seeks to grant P1,500 internet allowance for teachers.

“This is more urgent than the charter change which the President ordered the Congress to act on. Education continuity depends on teachers’ internet access especially that chances of going back to the classrooms become dimmer with the still uncontrolled pandemic, sluggishness of the government’s vaccination program, and the presence of the new virus strain in the country,” he explained.

Basilio said that the government can grant internet allowance to teachers if it has concern for them.

“Hindi naniniwala ang mga guro na walang pera ang gobyerno. Baka ang nawawala ay ang pakialam ng gobyerno sa mga edukasyon. Wala na ba talagang maaasahan ang ating mga guro kay Pangulong Duterte?” Basilio asked.

He said that if the President was able to double the salaries of uniformed personnel in 2018, he can also grant internet allowance for teachers “kung may malasakit pa siya sa kinabukasan ng kabataan at ng bansa.”