ACT Teachers President Antonio Tinio welcomed President Marcos Jr.’s approval of the P7,000 gratuity pay for Job Order and Contract of Service workers in national government agencies, particularly in the Department of Education.

Tinio emphasized the need for broader coverage and ultimate regularization of all contractual government employees.

“This will benefit all JO and COS workers in the national government, including thousands of teaching and non-teaching personnel in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and the DepEd,” Tinio said.

“This development builds upon the gains of our sustained campaign for better compensation and benefits for our JO and COS workers, which resulted in the landmark Joint Circular No. 2 in 2017. However, much work remains to be done,” he added.

The former partylist representative and current first nominee of ACT Teachers expressed concern over the exclusion of JO and COS workers in Local Government Units from the gratuity pay provision.

“Hindi makatarungan na hindi isama ang ating mga kasamahan sa LGUs. Pareho silang naglilingkod sa bayan, pareho silang dapat tumanggap ng benepisyong ito. We strongly urge the administration to extend this benefit to all JO and COS workers regardless of their assignment,” he said.

While welcoming the gratuity pay, Tinio stressed that it should not overshadow the need for labor regularization.

“Our basic position remains unchanged: regularize all JO and COS workers. Ang prinsipyo natin ay simple—equal pay for equal work. These workers perform regular functions and should therefore be granted regular positions with full benefits and security of tenure,” he said.

“The gratuity pay is a step forward, but it’s just a band-aid solution. What we need is genuine security of tenure through regularization. Hindi dapat contractual ang serbisyo sa gobyerno,” Tinio concluded.