Nurses, tutors get raw deal on salary hike bill

Public school teachers and nurses are bound to be shortchanged under the modified compensation and classification system for state workers embodied in Joint Resolution 26 already approved by the bicameral conference committee, Senator Pia Cayetano said yesterday.

Cayetano, who represented the Senate minority in the bicameral panel, said that teachers will be entitled to a P6,500 pay increase over the next four years under the resolution. She said this is much lower than the P9,000 increase under Senate Bill 24089 which was approved by the chamber last year.

She expressed regret that the clamor for a substantial wage hike by the 450,000 teachers in the public schools, who comprise nearly one-third of the 1.4 million civil servants,was not accommodated in the joint resolution.

Senator Mar Roxas, chairman of the committee on education, said he had pressed hard for the adoption of the P9,000 pay hike for teachers but to no avail. But, she pointed out that the P6,500 increase will apply not only to teachers but also to other employees in the bureaucracy.

Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he voted against the bill because it will grant only “token” salary hike for civil servants.

The Senate was set to ratify the final version of the bill last night.

Cayetano lamented that Joint Resolution 26 would entitle state nurses to a starting salary of only P18,088 per month which means a huge reduction from the P25,067 monthly salary prescribed by the unimplemented Nursing Act of 2002. The present starting salary for government nurses is P12,026.

In addition, she said the proposed hike would be spread over four years, making the impact of the measure negligible in view .of the rising cost of living. –Fel V. Maragay, Manila Standard Today