ANGARA: 2019 BUDGET EARMARKS CLOSE TO P1.5 BILLION FOR JOB PROMOTION IN SUCs

Senator Sonny Angara said that teaching personnel in state universities and colleges (SUCs) across the country will be able to receive this year part of their long-overdue salary adjustment with the approval of the 2019 national budget that included funding for job promotion.

"The wait is over," said Angara, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Finance and head of the sub-committee that tackled the spending package of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and SUCs, after both chambers of Congress approved the P3.757-trillion budget for this year.

Angara said that based on the House version of the 2019 general appropriations bill, a funding of P1.486 billion was set aside for the job promotion of faculty members in SUCs.

The senator initially wanted to earmark P2.9 billion to cover the cycle of promotion from 2013 to 2016, which was supposed to be implemented in 2017 under the National Budget Circular (NBC) 461.

However, the bicameral conference committee-approved spending package only provided for a half-year implementation, citing the late enactment of the 2019 national budget.

"Bagama't kalahati lamang ang naaprubahan sa bicam, malaking bagay na sa wakas ay may nakalaan nang pondo para sa promosyon ng mga guro sa pampublikong pamantasan at kolehiyo," Angara said.

"Makaaasa po ang ating mga guro sa SUCs na sisiguraduhin natin na sa susunod na taon ay matatanggap nila ang nalalabi pang halaga para sa kanilang job promotion," he added.

NBC 461 is the system of evaluation and promotion for SUC faculty members. The Department of Budget and Management did not include allocation for the circular in the 2019 national expenditure program it submitted to Congress last year.

According to Angara, around 35,000 faculty members of 109 SUCs stand to benefit from the full implementation of NBC 461.

Estimates would show that each faculty member could get a total of P42,500 or about P7,000 monthly for six months.

He added: "Malaking tulong po ito sa ating mga guro. Teachers are among the most underpaid workers, given their workload and role in the society."

Angara believes that job promotion and the corresponding pay increase is the best way to reward outstanding performance, as it serves as a tool to motivate teachers.

"Having inspired and capable teachers is probably one of the best investments our government could make," Angara said. "Definitely this would lead to an improvement in the quality of education in SUCs and the entire public higher education."

Angara has also been pushing for the increase in the salary of public school teachers since he was a congressman representing the lone district of Aurora province.

In June 2016, Angara filed Senate Bill 135 which sought to adjust the minimum salary grade level of teachers from Salary Grade 11 to 19, or double their current monthly base pay of P20,179 to P42,099.