THE GOVERNMENT will commission an independent body to study raising the pay of various civil servants, including teachers, with the review expected early next year, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

“At around First Quarter of 2019, the DBM will commission an independent firm to do a benchmarking exercise on the salary of teachers and other government personnel such as doctors, nurses, and lawyers,” Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said during a briefing at the DBM headquarters yesterday.

“Based on the results of this study, the DBM will propose the appropriate level of compensation for government workers,” he added.

Mr. Diokno said that raising salaries of teachers or any other government employees is not a priority right now, as pay structures dictated by the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) remain in effect until next year.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered the DBM to look into raising public school teachers’ salaries.

An entry-level public school teacher earns a monthly salary of P26,375 including bonuses and allowances, according to Mr. Diokno.

With the fourth tranche of the SSL next year, Mr. Diokno said this category’s monthly compensation package will increase to P27,046.

He noted that personnel costs for public schools under the 2019 government budget are expected to hit P398.83 billion — registering an average annual increase of 14.2% since 2016.

Doubling the teachers’ salaries would require an additional P343.7 billion according to Mr. Diokno, which is equivalent to 2% of gross domestic product.

He said that this would produce a 5% budget deficit, breaching the 3% cap that the government has set.

“This will make the public sector deficit unmanageable. It will put at risk the excellent international financial standing that the Duterte administration has built in the past 18 months,” Mr. Diokno said.

He said that doubling teachers’ salaries would require new taxes on top of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act — which he said that the public may not want.

“We will be hard-pressed to finance our Budget priorities,” said Mr. Diokno, referring to the administration’s infrastructure drive, the rehabilitation of Marawi City, and the offer of free tuition for college students.

“We must think and prioritize long-term solutions for our country’s development and for the people’s general welfare,” Mr. Diokno said.

The DBM secretary also noted that public school teachers are already relatively high. He noted a study done by Towers Watson in 2015 and 2016 showing that the pay for public school teachers is 46% higher compared with their private sector counterparts.

“We recognize the important role of our teachers. However, we would prefer to let the third and fourth tranches of SSL run their course before we propose a new scheme,” Mr. Diokno said. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan

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