ALLIANCE OF CONCERNED TEACHERS

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers today welcomed the filing of a bill in the House of Representatives providing for a P9,000 across-the-board increase for public school teachers.

House Bill 4734, entitled “The Public School Teachers’ Additional Compensation Act,” was authored by Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan and co-filed by Liza Maza of GWP,  Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna, and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers today hailed members of the Senate for approving on second reading a proposed bill giving public school teachers a P9,000 salary increase.

On June 11, 2008, the Senate’s Committees on Education, Arts and Culture; Civil Service and Government Reorganization; and Finance, jointly submitted Committee Report No. 77 endorsing Senate Bill No. 2408 for final approval by the Senate.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers today deplored the severe shortage of toilets and hand-washing facilities in the majority of public schools throughout the country.

On the first day of the new school year, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers called on government to take steps to ensure universal completion of basic education for all school-age children.

“Malacañang and DepEd officials will undoubtedly be patting themselves on the back for another ‘trouble-free’ opening of the new school year.” said ACT chairperson Antonio Tinio. “However, the public knows that our educational system continues to be plagued by serious problems.”

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers will hold a march and rally on Monday, June 9, 2008, to demand higher salaries amid the worsening economic situation in the country.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers today criticized Pres. Gloria Arroyo for her government’s allegedly “token” response to the problem of declining enrolment in basic education.

President Arroyo yesterday directed the Department of Education to drop school uniforms as a requirement in public elementary and high schools in order to “make it as small a burden as possible on parents to send their children to school.”

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers today denounced Government Service Insurance System President and General Manager Winston Garcia for passing on the pension fund’s “system losses” to its members. ACT made the statement on the eve of the GSIS’s 71st anniversary on May 31.

“While he’s busy plotting the takeover of Meralco using our hard-earned pension funds, Garcia refuses to heed the widespread clamor against his own policies in GSIS,” said ACT chairperson Antonio Tinio.

Garcia is leading a controversial bid to take control of Meralco, the country’s largest electricity distributor. GSIS holds a 23% share in the utility firm. Public school teachers make up nearly one-third of the state pension fund’s 1.6 million members.

Tinio pointed out that one of the issues raised by Garcia against Meralco, the highly unpopular practice of charging system losses to consumers, may also be attributed to the GSIS.

In the electric power industry, system loss refers to electricity lost due to technical inefficiency or pilferage. The anti-electricity pilferage law (R.A. 7832) allows private utilities to charge up to 9.5% of their system losses to consumers.