MANILA– The Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday shed light on reports regarding the “unprecedented amount” of bonuses allotted for public school teachers this December.
In a statement, the department said public school teachers have long been receiving a year-end bonus equivalent to one month’s salary, as mandated by Republic Act Nos. 6686 and 8441, and strengthened by Executive Order (EO) 201 s. 2016.
An annual additional cash gift worth PHP5,000 was also mandated by EO 201, and is set to be given in November, along with the year-end bonus, it said.
The performance-based bonus (PBB) for 2015, based on Department Order 56 s. 2016, is scheduled to be released also this month, following DepEd’s submission of requirements to the Department of Budget and Management.
It said the PBB ranges from PHP5,000 to PHP35,000, depending on the teacher’s rank, performance or contribution to the accomplishments of the department’s overall targets.
The department further said that beginning this year, a productivity enhancement incentive (PEI) amounting to PHP5,000 will also be received by teachers in December. Based on Section 6 of EO 201, all qualified government employees are entitled to this amount.
These figures are “standard to the mandates of the Department, and consistent to the incentives received and still to be received by our teachers,” it said in the statement.
In a recent news report, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said that by year-end, some 720,000 public school teachers are expected to receive bonuses ranging from PHP34,000 to PHP64,000, double what they received in 2015.
“This is an unprecedented amount,” TDC chair Benjo Basas said, noting that a teacher with a basic salary of PHP19,077 awaits a minimum of PHP5,000 in PBB; a year-end bonus worth PHP19,077; PHP5,000 in cash gift and another PHP5,000 as PEI. PNA-northboundasia.com