Most teachers live below poverty line, wage increase timely

BACOLOD CITY – Teachers here are walking early to dramatize their demand for a wage increase as the world marks Teacher’s Day today.

“Most of us live below poverty line if we are to base it on the levels set by government itself,” teachers’ leader Richard Gelangre told DNX.

Gelangre, who leads the Bacolod City Public School Teachers Association (BCPSTA), said even the National Economic Development Authority pegs the poverty threshold at P42,000 per month but most of the teachers earn only P20,000 a month.

Most of those who earn that salary only get a net amount of P5,000 “that they cannot even bring home because their ATMs are already with loan sharks or credit cooperatives,” he pointed out.