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The profession that never pays enough

By Reynald Denver del Rosario of UP-CMC for Kodao Productions

LUDY LOCSIN would sit in her empty cream-colored office on most school day mornings, waiting for students to arrive. Before long, she would see through her window parents dropping off their children and seeing them off to their classrooms.  When the school bell rings at seven that is when her own official day begins.

That she says is the most peaceful time of her workday. As the first classes begin, calm descends on the entire school and she has time to read documents and tackle problems an assistant principal is expected to solve.

The bell would ring again before noon and she becomes busier, greeting parents who would enter her room for whatever concern they have with their children’s education. Preschool students would also regularly drop in with purple stars on their wrists and tell her how its ink has stained their uniforms. She would listen, always with a smile.

In the afternoons, Locsin would meet her class for an hour in the next school building. She dreads this part of the day, she says. It isn’t the chemical equations or the periodic table she would ask her students to master, but the flight of stairs she has to conquer first before she can reach her classroom. For someone who will turn 55 soon, climbing to the third floor has started to become hard.

For an hour, she would stand in front of her class and make sense out of what the chemistry textbook says. She would write on the chalkboard formulae trying to make equations interesting to teenagers. She knows her students find the subject hard. She knows they are sometimes distracted because they are almost always bored with offline activities. She admits to finding high school students increasingly hard to teach. But she coaxes them with patience and kindness. Every student in the school knows her as the school’s motherly figure.

She could have been a chemical engineer, she says. But she chose to be a teacher only because her other friends did. Eventually, she fell in love with it and never looked back. She has learned and taught it all, from literature to science to mathematics. On odd occassions, she is also the school’s guidance counselor, substitute teacher, sometimes its cashier.

Kulang na lang, maging driver ako ng school bus,” she said, laughing.

She has been teaching in the same private school for twenty years now. She smiles as she looks back at its humble beginnings. From 40 pupils to as high as 600, it has definitely come a long way, she says. She has seen a lot of changes in the school, both good and bad.

Facilities are lacking. An almost-empty science laboratory, outdated computers, damaged speech laboratory equipment. Teachers like her find themselves improvising and finding ways to still provide quality education to the students. The school administration has sought ways to deal with these problems, but it still isn’t enough.

Ludy’s story may be ordinary for private school teachers like her in the Philippines.  But rarely is it acknowledged that those like her receive much smaller salaries than their public school colleagues. And this is their biggest problem.

Private school teachers have lower salaries

According to Representative France Castro of Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), private school teachers only receive an average salary of P10,000 per month. She cited a case where a private school in Isabela only pays their entry-level teachers as low as P8,000 a month.

Minsan nga, umaabot lang yan ng P3,000 e,” she said.

Public school teachers, on the other hand, receive an average monthly salary of P19,620 per month, significantly less than the living wage of more than P26,000 for a family of six.

Teacher Ludy herself was a victim. It was only a year ago that she began receiving the minimum monthly wage from her school. She complained to a government agency, to no avail. She is her school’s regular employee in all but salary and benefits. She did not even remember when she became one.

Schools take care of their teachers, she was told at the start of her career. For two decades, she has learned not to ask for much. Her children, now working, studied in the school for free. Her workplace is a three-minute walk away from home. Her load has become lighter, and in a way, she’s relieved. Her life is simple; her love for teaching is good enough recompense, she told herself.

Her fellow teachers, on the other hand, aren’t as lucky. She has seen them come and go, choosing to find greener pastures. Many of them work now for other institutions. Her colleague for 15 years has recently gone to a public school, and she can’t blame her.

“Mas okay ang sahod doon, at mas magaan ang load,” Ludy says.

Public school teachers also have a relatively lighter teaching load compared to their private school counterparts. It is not always observed, but a public school teacher, by law, is only required to handle minimum of six hours per day, compared to a private school teacher who has to endure nine to 10 hours of work. Some are forced to work overtime but don’t get compensated.

The Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (RA 4670) also guarantees comparably better working conditions for public school teachers than private school teachers. Private school teachers are covered only by the Labor Code, made ineffectual by numerous loopholes and exemptions, that subjects workers to unfair practices and labor conditions such as low salaries and contractualization.

In short, our private school teachers are more overworked and underpaid than their already overworked and underpaid counterparts in public schools,” Castro said.

Castro added RA4670 by no means make things easier for public school teachers.  Teaching in Philippine public schools still needs much to be desired.

“If things are a little bit better for public school teachers than their private school counterparts, it is only because the former are more organized and have taken to the streets numerous times to defend their rights,” she said.

Unrecognized heroes

Through two decades of selfless dedication, Teacher Ludy has been promoted to assistant principal. But she still cannot help but wish things are better for teachers like her. In moments of doubt, Teacher Ludy thinks of the job and the students she has grown to love.

Doon ako masaya. Doon na lang ako bumabawi. Kita mo itong school, hindi naman ganung kaganda kumpara sa iba pero ang daming estudyante. Kasi maganda ang pakikitungo ng teachers. Yun ang puhunan dito,” she says.

School has meant smiling faces and dreams coming true for Ludy. It gives her more hope, more drive to wake up in the morning and go through the daily grind. Her life as a teacher has been a story of compromise, but she endured it all to be a part of something bigger than herself. Seeing students change for the better and achieve the best things in life has always been her life’s biggest reward. For two decades, she’s still enjoys her work. She enjoys being a part of her students’ lives. She sees in them high hopes and dreams, that someday she will read about them in newspapers or see them in television, talking about how successful they’ve become.

But just like other things, she knows it isn’t forever. Last year, Teacher Ludy already entertained thoughts of retiring, but she changed her mind.

“Hintayin ko na yung retirement age ko. Kung magre-resign ako, wala akong makukuha,” she says. She is not sure the school would pay her retirement benefits if she goes through with her plan and that made her decide to wait it out for half a decade more.

Teacher Ludy waits for the day when the school bell would ring for her one last time. She dreams of no longer answering phone calls, climbing flights of stairs and writing chemical equations on the blackboard. When it comes, she plans on taking it easy at home. It would be a happy moment when an odd student or two would visit her, tell their stories, tell her how life had been. She would listen as she now does in her office, she says, because that would just about be the only proper payment she would receive from decades of dedication and sacrifice from a profession that never pays enough. #

 

Teachers slam DepEd’s anti-teacher statements and policies, demand salary increase

Report and photos by Denver Del Rosario of UP-CMC for Kodao Productions

PASIG CITY—Teachers from the National Capital Region (NCR) staged a protest at the Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday to denounce Secretary Leonor Briones for her anti-teacher remarks and policies.

“She reiterated her insensitive statement that teachers are well-compensated and shall not receive local allowances and additional teaching supplies allowances,” Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)-Philippines Chairperson Benjamin Valbuena said.

Bonifacio Memorial Elementary School teacher Reynaldo Ga also slammed Briones saying the official is lying about teachers’ salaries.

“She is really a liar because deductions from our salaries are enormous. In my case alone, P3,000  is being deducted from my salary,” Ga said.

DepEd said entry level teachers receive a gross salary of P24,399 per month which includes their basic pay, Personal Economic Relief Allowance, and personal benefit contributions such as GSIS, Philhealth and PAGIBIG, among others.

ACT-Philippines, however, said teachers only take home P16,000 after tax and contributions.

The amount is less than half of the Ibon Foundation-announced monthly living wage of P33,570 for a family of six.

Martinez said Briones shot down their proposal to have their chalk allowance increased from P2,500 to P5,000.

Teachers are forced to spend their own monies various school events and requirements, Ga added.

“During summer breaks when we are supposed to be on vacation, DepEd forces us to attend so many seminars that we have to pay for ourselves,” Ga revealed.

“Teachers are really being made to suffer a great injustice as we were only given a measly P500 salary increase these past two years,” ACT Teachers Party’s Joy Martinez said.

According to Martinez, Briones also rejected other suggestions to increase teachers’ salaries.

Briones was among three cabinet secretaries who issued DepEd-DBM-DILG Joint Circular No.1 S. 2017 that prohibits the use of the Special Education Fund for the teachers’ local allowance.

The teachers said Briones has yet to hold a dialogue with the teachers regarding their salaries and benefits.

“We already wrote to her several times, but she refuses to talk to us.  She is close-minded as she only favors private businesses over the public,” Martinez said. #

Educators urge lifting of martial law in Mindanao

Educators who participated in the National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission in the Lanao provinces last June 13 to 16 are demanding the lifting of Martial Law in Mindanao.

In a press briefing at the University of the Philippines last June 20, the educators said martial law and the indiscriminate manner in which the war against terror groups in Marawi City is being conducted are creating a grave humanitarian crisis that victimizes civilians. Read more

Teachers press for ‘delayed’ salary increase

Public school teachers trooped to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) central offices in Manila last June 16 to press for a ‘long-delayed’ salary increase.

Slamming DBM secretary Benjamin Diokno and Department of Education secretary Leonor Briones’ immediate rejection of their demand, the teachers said the two officials do not understand the hardships the teachers undergo with their “inadequate” wages.

The teachers were led by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and ACT Teachers’ Party. *(Videography by Ivan Dexter Tolentino and Esther Anne Cabrillas / Featured image by ACT) Read more

Bayan, Makabayan hit tax reform and death penalty bills

In a rally in at the House of Representatives various sectors led by the BAYAN and the Makabayan Coalition called for the rejection of the bills that would restore the death penalty and another that imposes higher taxes on the people. Both bills are government-sponsored.

Evan Hernandez of the rights group Hustisya said that under a justice system that is flawed if not downright rotten, death penalty is not a deterrent to crimes nor will it render justice to the victims.

Like the death penalty, the tax reform only hits the the poor rather than the rich said Rep. Carlos Zarate of Bayan Muna. Zarate and other members of the Makabayan bloc vowed to oppose the bill and will instead push the Finance Dept. and the Bureau of Customs to efficiently work on their collection. (Video by Divine C. Miranda) Read more

PODCAST: Jaime Soledad hinggil sa dapat na panawagan ng mamamayan sa gubyernong Duterte

Ang panayam kay Jaime Soledad, Consultant ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) ay bahagi ng programa sa radyo sa panahon ng Kampuhan ng mga Lakbayanis ng Visayas. Ginanap ito noong Disyembre 7, 2016 sa Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Sina Raymund Villanueva ng Kodao Productions at Ronalyn Olea ng Bulatlat.com at Vice President ng International Asspciation of Women in Radio and Television – Philippines ang mga tagapagpadaloy ng programa sa ilalim ng proyektong Radyo Tacloban.

PODCAST: Jaime Soledad hinggil sa paghahanda ng NDFP para sa 3rd round of peace negotiations sa 2017

Ang panayam kay Jaime Soledad, Consultant ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) ay bahagi ng programa sa radyo sa panahon ng Kampuhan ng mga Lakbayanis ng Visayas. Ginanap ito noong Disyembre 7, 2016 sa Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Sina Raymund Villanueva ng Kodao Productions at Ronalyn Olea ng Bulatlat.com at Vice President ng International Asspciation of Women in Radio and Television – Philippines ang mga tagapagpadaloy ng programa sa ilalim ng proyektong Radyo Tacloban.

PODCAST: Renato Baleros Sr on socio-economic reforms, bilateral ceasefire and political prisoners

Ang panayam kay Renato Baleros Sr., Consultant ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) ay bahagi ng programa sa radyo sa panahon ng Kampuhan ng mga Lakbayanis ng Visayas. Ginanap ito noong Disyembre 7, 2016 sa Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Sina Raymund Villanueva ng Kodao Productions at Ronalyn Olea ng Bulatlat.com at Vice President ng International Asspciation of Women in Radio and Television – Philippines ang mga tagapagpadaloy ng programa sa ilalim ng proyektong Radyo Tacloban.

PODCAST: Concha Araneta-Bocala hinggil sa kanyang reaksyon kay Sec. Dureza sa kalagayan ng political prisoners sa bansa

Ang panayam kay Concha Araneta-Bocala, Consultant ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) ay bahagi ng programa sa radyo sa panahon ng Kampuhan ng mga Lakbayanis ng Visayas. Ginanap ito noong Disyembre 7, 2016 sa Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Sina Raymund Villanueva ng Kodao Productions at Ronalyn Olea ng Bulatlat.com at Vice President ng International Asspciation of Women in Radio and Television – Philippines ang mga tagapagpadaloy ng programa sa ilalim ng proyektong Radyo Tacloban.

Mentors celebrate World Teachers’ Day with huge gathering

Officials from the Department of Education-National Capital Region, along with public school teachers, gathered at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City on Friday, September 30, to mark World Teachers Day and National Peace Consciousness Month.

Through various speeches and performances, the teachers called for salary increases and recognition of teachers rights and welfare in the first-ever event jointly organized by the regional office of the agency and the teachers’ union.  Read more