THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers filed a petition signed by 17,377 teachers to reiterate its call for the inclusion of P1,500 monthly internet subsidy for public school teachers in the Bayanihan 3 budget.

In a letter addressed to House Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco, Committee on Appropriations chairman Eric Go Yap and Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo, ACT noted that urgent needs of the education sector have been “sidelined” in Republic Acts 11469, 11494 and 11518. As such, the group deemed Bayanihan 3 as an opportunity to urgently aid education frontliners.

Quimbo is the principal author of the Bayanihan 3 measure.

“Our teachers have been shouldering the operational expenses of distance learning for 11 months. Galing sa sariling bulsa o ‘di kaya’y inutang ang ipinambili ng mga titser ng laptop, load, printer, at internet subscription dahil sa kakulangan ng badyet para sa edukasyon. Hindi naman sikretong napakaliit ng suweldo ng mga guro, kaya lalo silang baon na baon sa utang ngayon para lamang matustusan ang kakulangan ng gobyerno sa implementasyon ng distance learning,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

ACT said that providing P1,500 internet allowance for 1 million teachers would only cost P10.5 billion.

Velasco and Quimbo’s original proposal allocated P30 billion for education under the Bayanihan 3, which would have been enough but the substitute bill approved by the committee reduced the amount to P1.2 billion, which could only provide a P200 monthly internet allowance to teachers.

The group’s survey showed that 66 percent of public school teachers spend P1,500 and above monthly for the operational expenses of distance learning, with 16 percent of those spending more than P3,000 monthly for internet connection, cellphone load, increased electricity bills, and modules supplies among others.

“Wala nang mapagkukuhanan ng pera ang ating mga guro. Barat na nga ang umentong ibinigay ng Pangulo, delayed pa palagi ang aming mga benepisyo. Limang taon na tayong pinababayaan ng administrasyong Duterte, pikit-mata pa rin ito sa panawagan ng ating mga guro,” Basilio said.

He claimed that only 10 percent of public school teachers in Metro Manila and 1 percent in other regions have received the P300 monthly communication expenses reimbursement for March to December 2020.

“We appeal to Congress to heed our teachers’ woes and allocate sufficient funding for education in the Bayanihan 3 that would grant them the P1,500 monthly internet allowance. Our educators have long been taken for granted by the government by letting our teachers bear the brunt of education delivery for so long, sans sufficient state support. The education sector is on the brink of collapse, and if the government does nothing to prevent it, the palpable learning crisis can no longer be averted,” Basilio said.