THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers will push through with its promise to hold protests to press the demand of teachers for the payment of their overtime work rendered last school year.

In a press conference, the group deplored how “overworked, underpaid, and under-supported” teachers are amid the pandemic. It said that such “neglect” forced teachers to “come together and take action.”

On October 5, education workers from public and private schools and universities will jointly hold protests to commemorate World Teachers’ Day.

“Ang World Teachers’ Day ay araw namin, kaya titiyakin naming magsisilbi ito upang mailantad ang tunay na kalagayan ng mga frontliners sa edukasyon at mapatampok ang aming makatwirang mga panawagan. We call on DepEd and the rest of the Duterte admin — spare us your empty messages of gratitude for teachers this year,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

“This year, we urge you to simply listen and act on our just demands,” he added.

The group’s demands include salary hike, overtime compensation, laptop and P1,500 monthly internet allowance for teachers, gadgets and P10,000 pandemic aid for students, P3,000 inflation adjustment allowance for teachers; and P10,000 honorarium for teacher-poll workers.

The group earlier threatened to hold protest rallies and synchronized one-day absence to push their demands.

“These demands stand on strong grounds. They have time and again been raised in reports gathered by our unions, validated in surveys participated in by thousands of teachers, carefully analyzed and studied with them, and consulted with stakeholders and experts in labor rights and laws,” Basilio said.

“Our teachers have been struggling for too long because of DepEd and Duterte’s extreme neglect and incompetence, we will take no more of it,” he added.