Teachers Group Demands Full P20K SRI for DepEd Teaching and Non-Teaching PersonnelI

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) on Dec. 21, urged the government to give the one-time full payment of P20,000 Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) for the personnel of the Department of Education (DepED).

"Dehado na nga ang mga guro sa sweldo, dehado pa rin sa benepisyo (Teachers are already disadvantaged in salary and are still disadvantaged in benefits),” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines Chairperson Vladimer Quetua. This is after the DepED announced that each eligible employee will be granted P15,000 SRI for Fiscal Year (SY) 2022.

Compared to other professions, Quetua lamented that the wages and benefits of teachers are already way behind. The SRI, for instance, is usually given late or in installments.

Nasaan na ang prinsipyo ng pagbibigay ng pantay at patas na benepisyo sa mga kawani ng pamahalaan (Where is the principle of giving equal and fair benefits to government employees?),” Quetua asked.

Read:  List of Regions with a Notice of Transfer of Allocation for SRI 2022

Quetua pointed out that in 2019 and 2021, DepEd personnel received SRI in two installments: P7,000 in December and P3,000 in February 2020 and P7,000 in December, and P3,000 in January 2022.

In 2020, DepEd employees received P6,190 while the rest of the government employees received P10,000 SRI.

This year, Quetua said that SRI for teachers and other DepEd personnel is P5,000 short compared to other employees of the national government.

“Citing that DepEd has too many employees and the agency savings cannot afford to pay full benefits is a worn-out and unacceptable excuse,” Quetua pointed out.

“It is not our teachers’ fault that there are about 900,000 of them and they should not be disadvantage for delivering the most far-reaching government service,” he added.

ACT pointed out that the national government should “ensure that our teachers receive their benefits in full and on time, in recognition of their valuable service to our youth and children.”

The group also called on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to “concretely show the care for teachers that he has been touting since his electoral campaign” by directing the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release additional funds to augment the SRI of DepEd personnel.