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Protesters press for teachers' wage hike amid DepEd budget hearing

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Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Demonstrators staged a protest in front of the Senate on Monday while Education officials led by Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte attended the plenary deliberation of the agency’s proposed P678.1 billion budget for 2023.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/09/22/pimentel-on-ovp-deped-osg-confidential-funds-wag-niyo-na-umpisahan">Pimentel on OVP, DepEd, OSG confidential funds: &#x27;Wag niyo na umpisahan&#x27;</a></li></ul>Vladimer Quetua, chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), pressed for teacher’s salary increases and assistance given their long hours of daily working hours and bulk of responsibilities to schools and students.Teachers, he claimed, are again left out in the DepEd budget for next year.“Wala kaming makitang pagtaas para sa aming sahod, wala kaming makitang pagtaas sa usapin ng mga kakulangan ng classroom, mga gamit sa eskwela… nananatiling thermometer, face mask.. katunayan, hindi ligtas ang aming pagbabalik (eskwela),” Quetua said.Inside the halls of Senate, budget sponsor, Senator Pia Cayetano, presented the proposed budget of DepED and its attached agencies for next year:These are:•DepEd - P676,245,962,000 •Early Childhood Care and Development Council -- P291,798,000 •National Academy of Sports -- P356,776,000 •National Book Development Board -- P121,828,000 •National Council for Children’s Television -- P71,570,000 •National Museum of the Philippines -- P944,407.000 •Philippine High School for the Arts -- P107,171,000Cayetano likewise presented the DepEd’s National School Building Inventory (NSBI) for 2019 which indicates the volume of classroom shortage at 167,901 classrooms.The funding requirement to complete the construction of school buildings as well as its repairs would amount to P419,752,500,000, Cayetano said.The government needs P45.7 billion fund to repair a total of 37,795 classrooms, which were damaged by disasters that struck various parts of the country from 2016 to 2022.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/04/22/blended-learning-allowed-in-schools-with-exceptional-circumstances">Blended learning allowed in schools with &#x27;exceptional circumstances&#x27;</a></li></ul>Senator Sherwin Gatchalian believes that erasing the classroom shortage will remain a “challenge” in the government.“Number 1 is sourcing the funds. And even though we source the fund, it’s also absorptive capacity on building these classrooms,” said Gatchalian, who also sits as chairman of the Senate basic education committee.Those issues were gamely recognized by Cayetano.“That is a big problem, the absorptive capacity, let’s put that on record because kung maghahagilap tayo ng pondo kung sa maghahagilap lang, our Chairman can produce but it’s really the absorptive capacity… that is the bigger problem. On how we will fund that. We can’t even discuss that, it’s not even going to happen in a year or two or three years,” the lady senator said.“It’s not gonna happen in a year, or in two or three years,” she added.Given the huge classroom shortage the country continues to face, Senator Risa Hontiveros raised the DepEd’s option to rent private school facilities to accommodate other public school students.Asked by Hontiveros if the DepEd is allowed to rent private school classrooms, Cayetano answered in the affirmative.“There is a special provision that allows DepEd, that authorizes DepEd. DepEd may be authorized to use facilities of private institutions. DepEd shall pay rental fee for such use,” Cayetano said. “Ano po yung plano ng DepEd to address these widening gaps in infrastructure development at kung na-amend na ng DepEd yung guidelines nila to factor in new normal conditions, like having higher ceilings, having bigger windows para i-improve po ang ventilation ng mga gusali at classroom nila,” Hontiveros asked.“It is clearly a budgetary issue. DepEd is committed and would be willing to handle more bigger budget to address the shortage, and other than that, it is really the institutionalizing of the blended learning program,” Cayetano said. As of posting, the deliberation of the DepEd budget for next year continues, with Duterte witnessing the plenary discussion.

The funding requirement to complete the construction of school buildings as well as its repairs would amount to P419 billion, Sen. Pia Cayetano said.

Protesters press for teachers' wage hike amid DepEd budget hearing

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Protesters press for teachers' wage hike amid DepEd budget hearing

Sherrie Ann Torres,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 14, 2022 08:02 PM PHT

Read More:

Senate

senator

2023 budget

NEP

budget hearing

Risa Hontiveros

Sara Duterte

DepEd

Department of Education

Pia Cayetano

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