Duterte: After military, teachers next in line for salary hike

MANILA, Philippines – After announcing the start of "incremental" salary increases for the military, President Rodrigo Duterte said public school teachers would be up next.

"Itong increase of salaries, ang sunod ko mga teachers (In terms of the increase of salaries, I will put the teachers next)," Duterte said on Thursday, July 28, during a situation briefing with military officials in Camp Nakar, Lucena City in Quezon.

Duterte had announced the salary increase for the military during a visit to another camp on Tuesday, July 26. He had said the "incremental" salary raise would start in August and would continue until the current amount is doubled.

Doubling the salaries of military and police was among Duterte's main campaign promises. Increasing the salaries of teachers was another promise.

The President did not elaborate on where he would get the funds to double teachers' wages.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno had already said that the increase in military wages would be difficult to implement because of other pressing financial matters, not least of which is the huge debt of the government to the military pension fund.

But increasing military salaries is such a priority for Duterte that it was among the factors in his decision to support a Constitutional Assembly rather than the more expensive Constitutional Convention as a means to amend the Constitution. – Rappler.com

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