Rep. Cojuangco Pushes for Mentors’ P2K Monthly Allowance

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

SISON – Pangasinan Congresswoman Kimi Cojuangco said she hopes that her P2000 a month  proposed bill for the allowance of the public school teachers will be approved by the Appropriation Committee so that it could be voted in the floor by the whole members of the House of Representatives.

Rep. Kimi Cojuangco (center) in an animated conversation
with the members of the media during the birthday of her
husband gubernatorial aspirant Mark Cojuangco held
last October 6 in Sison, Pangasinan.

“In the floor walang problem iyan, to all the congressmen all of them will gonna sign”.
She said she conferred with Senator Pia Cayetano, her counterpart in the Basic Education Committee, who was elated about her pet bill and will support it in the Senate.
Cojuangco reacted to the rumors circulated in the social media like Face Book that she was against the raise for the salary of public school teachers.
She said what she opposed was the P2000 a month spike could be impossible to pass as it included all the government workers and not just the teachers.
“It's almost P3 billion which at this point our national government could not afford to do”.
She said what was possible was to insert the P2000 allowance exclusively for  teachers  after  she found out that their yearly Chalk Allowances worth P1000 have still to be given by the government.
“That’s why the teachers end up making up (on the shortfall). That’s not right”.
She said her P2000 a month proposal that is now in the Committee Level is much better than the P1000 a year allowance.

“Is that not a better way to do it? That’s one of the ways to skin a cat. There are many ways to skin a cat, that’s tax free. If they get P2000 a month whether they spend for instructional materials then that’s for them. In other words, I found a way to a loophole”.
She said her bill was a rebuffed to what falsely circulated at the social media.
“How could anybody says I am not for raising the pay of teachers?”
Media reports said that in year 2011, the chalk allowance for teachers was P700 or P3.50 per school day for the entire school year composed of 203 school days (SY 2010-2011).
Since 2012, the annual chalk allowance for public school teachers has been given a P300 raise, from P700 to P1,000, as announced by Education Secretary Armin Luistro. With 201 school days for SY 2011-2012, the daily chalk allowance increased to P4.98.
This year the Alliance of Concerned Teachers said mentors in some school division complaint that “only P400 was credited to their ATM for the payment of their chalk allowance.