THE Teachers’ Dignity Coalition called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to fulfill his campaign promises to increase the salaries of public school teachers even as it welcomed his efforts to study the possibility of a pay hike.

“This is a welcome development, and we hope that the government will act quickly because it was one of the president’s election-campaign promises that he had to keep,” Benjo Basas, the group’s national chairperson, said.

The TDC said it hopes for a just compensation package under the Marcos presidency and not a mere increase under the salary standardization law as what his predecessor provided.

“What we ask is beyond increase in our salaries, it’s about rectifying the decades-old mistake of the government,” Basas, a Caloocan City teacher for 20 years, added.

Since the 15th Congress, the group has lobbied for a P10,000 across-the-board increase for public education workers, an amount which according to them would be reasonable because it would benefit all teachers and education employees, regardless of their status.

“Teachers and government workers have endured poor salaries and limited benefits ever since the SSL was initially put into place in 1989. It is time to put a stop to this unfair and discriminatory policy. It only perpetuated our poor condition and low chances for socio-economic improvement,” Basas said.

He added that the SSL “does not reflect the letters and intentions of Article XIV, Section 5 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution that says: The state shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.”