Senate panel finds DepEd non-compliant with a decade-old law

In a report by the Senate basic education committee on Tuesday, May 31, the Department of Education (DepEd) has been found non-compliant with some very important provisions of an old law that grants benefits to teachers.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said during the plenary session that there are benefits remain unimplemented under the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers which he termed as “illusory promises up to now.”

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According to the findings of the committee, the DepEd was compliant with seven sections of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers and partially compliant with 18 additional provisions but is non-compliant with three sections.

The committee was also disappointed to learn that three pivotal benefits and privileges granted to public school teachers under the Magna Carta remain mere illusory promises up to now, almost six decades after the law was passed,

Gatchalian said.

One of the provisions is Section 22 of the Magna Carta that provides significant medical benefits to teachers. In this law, public school teachers are entitled to a free annual physical examination. If hospitalization is required, the government entity paying the teachers’ salaries is responsible to pay for the fees.

However, Gatchalian said that since 1966, teachers have been forced to pay for their own medical checkups.

While the DepEd has provided some monetary medical assistance since 2019, there is still no program to provide the annual check-up mandated by law,

he added.

Anoter provision that Gatchalian mentioned was under a law that allows retiring teachers to be promoted one rank higher. The salary of that rank will be then the basis for the computation of their retirement benefits.

However, he noted that this policy has not been implemented by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

During our hearings, GSIS raised concerns on the actuarial impact of this provision, as well as equal protection concerns under the Constitution,” he said.

The committee is siding with the teachers after finding out that the basis for the computation of the lump sum of the retirement pay and the monthly benefits thereafter should be a one range salary raise upon retirement of the teachers, pursuant to the Magna Carta,

Gatchalian added.

The general rule applied by GSIS in calculating the retirement benefits of public school teachers, which is the average monthly compensation received by an employee during the last 36 months of service preceding retirement, is incorrect,

he further added.

Gatchalian explained that if such computation is followed incessantly, the wisdom behind the Magna Carta on the retirement pay of public school teachers will be pointless.

He also cited Section 31 of the Magna Carta requiring the DepEd secretary to submit to Congress annually the necessary budget estimates to implement the provisions on benefits for public school teachers.

However, DepEd only submits an omnibus budget request to Congress covering all of its annual budgetary needs,

the senator pointed out and asked the DepEd to submit a specific annual budget to ensure the full implementation of the agreement.

The basic education committee recommended the government to increase the salary of public school teachers and provide enough health insurance among others.