President Rodrigo Duterte vowed that public school teachers would finally get the salary hike they wanted.
In his speech in Cagayan De Oro on Wednesday, President Duterte explained that salary hike for teachers is harder than raising the wage for soldiers and police because they’re fewer than the educators in the Philippines.
According to him, it’s easier to find funds for raising the salaries of cops and soldiers, compared to teachers. The government pointed out that they need 150-B pesos to fund a 10,000 pesos hike for all public school teachers.
“Remember that there are millions of teachers. There are only a few policemen, something like 160. There are 130 in the military. It’s easier [to find funds for them]. That is why their salaries have been doubled,” Duterte said.
However, once they found a way to get the right funds for the salary hike, the government vowed that they would quickly implement the raise for the public teachers.
“The President is working on that. And hopefully, that can be responded to. Our economic managers are doing everything to see how things can be done,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.
Malacanang also reminded the people that the beloved mother of the President was a teacher, an evidence that the chief executive knows the importance of the public educators in the country.
“You must remember that the mother of the President was a teacher and so his heart is with the teachers,”