by Genalyn Kabiling
Public school teachers will be the next beneficiaries of a planned salary increase in government.
After the government sought to double the pay of solders and policemen, President Duterte now wants to raise salary of government teachers by using the proceeds of the next tax reform package.
“The President also stated that with the second tax reform package, he has instructed DBM (Department of Budget and Management) and all other agencies to find means to increase the salary of teachers after the initial doubling of salaries of the AFP and the police so the teachers will be next,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a Palace news conference.
“He says that they will have to be tangible results of any implementation of the second tax reform package and he said that that should be the increase in teachers’ salary,” he said.
Roque said the President did not say the amount of the salary hike for teachers but would likely aim to “double” their pay.
“Judging by what he wanted for the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), it could be that he is also aiming to double the entry salary for teachers,” he said.
Following the enactment of the law lowering income taxes but raising excise on fuel, tobacco, cars and sweeten drinks, the Duterte government will push for the passage of the second tax reform package to sustain infrastructure spending and keep a stable budget deficit.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III recently said they will submit the proposed second of the five tax reform packages to Congress this month. The DoF proposal aims to lower corporate income taxes and modernize fiscal incentives.
He said these additional tax reform packages “are not really designed to make more revenues” but “designed to make the system more fair.”
