Teachers demand pay increase and peace

On World Teachers Day 2016, union members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) trooped to the gates of Malacanang Palace in Manila to assert education as a right of the people.

They demanded salary increases and supported the on-going peace talks. Rius Valle of the Save Our Schools (S.O.S.) Network reported 29 incidents of military and para-military attacks on schools from June to September and demanded the release of indigenous lumad school teacher Amelia Pond and all political prisoners.

Prof. Sarah Raymundo of the Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND) denounced the attacks on schools and educators.

The teachers are affiliates of the Philippines chapter of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS). They were later joined by students from several schools at the Mendiola bridge.