The Department of Education (DepEd), in partnership with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), launched its loan assistance arrangement on Thursday to assist education employees battling garnished salaries.
“Teachers who work on a regular basis to uplift the longer term of our youth shouldn’t be drowning in debt,” Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara said in Filipino in a news release.
“If we might help them get well and breathe financially again, it’s our duty to accomplish that,” he added.
Under the partnership, LANDBANK offers a lower rate of interest from 7% to six.5% each year, which DepEd said is “significantly lower” in comparison with the three% monthly interest in unaccredited private lending institutions’ arrangements.
The partnership may gain advantage about 1,000 garnished salary loan accounts, amounting to an estimated P500 million.
“These are usually not add-ons, they’re a part of constructing a more complete financial relationship with teachers who’ve been historically underserved by the formal banking system,” LANDBANK President and Chief Executive Officer Ma. Lynette V. Ortiz said in a news release.
Affected personnel may also receive a minimum of P5,000 net take-home pay under the agreement, which DepEd said is an improvement after previously receiving little to no salary attributable to heavy deductions and garnishment.
“When our teachers are more relaxed, they will higher concentrate on their most significant duty – teaching and guiding our students,” Mr. Angara said.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, nevertheless, denounced the brand new partnership and reiterated its call for a P50,000 entry-level salary for teachers.
“The lives of teachers is not going to improve so long as salaries are usually not livable and wage increases remain meager,” the group said in Filipino on a Facebook post.
Earlier reports from ACT and IBON Foundation showed that 75% of 900,000 public school teachers nationwide are in debt through official salary-deduction schemes, private lending institutions, government loans, and informal high-interest lenders.
Teachers’ loans range from P5,000 to P200,000, with the bulk citing college tuition for youngsters, house acquisition and repair, hospitalization fees, and instructional materials as their primary causes. — Almira Louise S. Martinez