For the week - Mutual aid
Media
Part of The Philippine Educator
- Title
- For the week - Mutual aid
- Language
- English
- Year
- 1947
- Rights
-
- Fulltext
- For The Weak_ Mutual Aid CLEMENTE MALUENDA Principal, Balilihan, Bohol T~ , organization of the "Philippine Public School Teachers' Asso'ciation" is a -splendid idea. It is through this organization that- the teachers' opinions and sentiments and voice can be expressed: It is through this, that we, 57,000 strong and intelligent, can loudty be heard. The teachers congratulatt> the men who first cr.-nceived the idea through whose efforts the . membershi~ has considerably increased. Despite its infancy, already it bas participated in the preparation of bills which aim to ameliorate the lot of the forgotten teachers. Through this association the following bills were introduced i'n the - Philippine Congress-House Bill Nos. 683, 871 and 820. All the· above bills aim to help the teacher while in active . duty or when he ~etire~. but none has as yet been ~r~pared to help him when he is ill or physically disabled durirtg the performance of his duty. I suggest through the PPSTA that a "Teacher's Disability Fund" be created. · What is this fund? Where does it get its fund? Who wilf administer it? How will it disburse money to its legal claimants? The "Teacher's Disability Fund" is a fund by public school teachers the purpose of which is to extend financial aid to teachers when they arc til or physically disabled. This fund gets its financial support from the contribution of teachers. Every time a teacher collects his salary he deposits with the Municipal Treasur.er 1-% of it for this fund. This is to be administered by the government and the 1% contribution from. teachers are collected in the same war as our 3% Government Service Insurance System. Regular, temporary, and emergency teachers; are entitled to the benefits of this fund. It ic from them where the 1% collection is made. It is obvious why substitute tc!achers are not obliged to become membe~s of this "system." He may, however, become a member if he desires. When a teacher is absent due to illness, he receives his regular monthly salary in full. The supposed deductions due to absence will be covered by the "Teacher's Di?ability Fund". In order that he will be eligible to receive ·full pay, he should attach to his C.S. Form 48 a Physician's 'certificate or in cases where physicians are not available a cer• tificate of the District Supervisor will suffice. Only Government Physicians are eligible to issue such certificates. Perhaps you will ask this questicm: If a teacher resigns or if he retires, will he be able to withdraw the amount he has deposited? My answer is "No." The amount that he deposited cannot be withdrawn. It is presumed that when a teacher subscribes to this fund, he does it for charity's sake, and unless he gets sick (w~ich _ you and _ I s;ertainly don't · wish) he can't enjoy directly the benifits of this fund. Sometime ago, I suggested this idea I? a gro~p of teachers. The majority welcomed the id~:a, but there were some· who scorned and ridtculed it. The oppositionists say, "That's useless. It's nothing but an "'art swindle." My fellow teachers, let's go deeper into the realities of life. Out of your salary, can you set aside some amount for the "rainy day:""? Are you always FOR MODERN OPTICAL NEEDS-SEE KEEPSAKE OJ ·TJCAL-80 Escolta 29 - ' 30 "- - P-HILIPPINE' EDUCATOR : ~ sure that you _·-will be in , ~~od . he~~th? .~-. . Do ~you admit th,at,. whether you ltke tt or ~~:'not, some day you"may get sick? Perhaps ;-~ . you fear that some' teachers may take unfair advantage of its easy provisions for benefits, but do you think there is a sane teacher who. can ~fford to do that? , A teacher is honest; reliable, and sincere, , so that there is no need for that fear. In ,... the pr~s~nt regulation, ' dots a teache~ receive full pay when he is sick? Is there any institution which insures him of this financial support when he is ill? There is none. The BOTMA, Bohol 7- Teachers' Mutual Aid Association, has .1ts aim .of extending financial aids to ,_ 'needy teachers, but its financial capa.city is ljmited .. It cannot give substan- tial aid~ to teachers for ·most often its funds are exhausted. Should • i:his proposition be given favorable action by the teachers, the poorly paid teachers will ,be relieved o·f his "unnecessa;:y" anxiety.· Many times a teacher become~ moody. If you ask him why, his answer is; "I have not made any s_ avings since_ the school opened. My salary is barely enough to make both ends meet. It is good _jf I am always in good health, but if I get sick, how will ri-ty fatrtily live? What would I pay for medicine and medical attention?" My friend s, in spite of your limited income, how much do you spend monthly for <;igarettes? For hai_r oil, pomade and other foibles? I kno~ of .a teacher who smokes moderately. J!-very month he consumes two cartons . o~. ,~'Camel." One carton of this kind. of cigarette costs P2.80. How much does he spend for "smoke" monthly? Simple arithmetical ~amputation gives us P5.60. Does ne think of any re~urn for this investment? What good does he get from the "smoke"? None, ·in whatever form, yet he docs not hesitate to part with this amount. Suppose he subscribes to this fund, how much does he give out in one 1nonth? let us assume that his salary per month is P45.00 (basic). Then he contributes P.45 to this fund. Is this .amount too much for him to part with? A t eacher is not too stingy _ to part , with · ~.:_ this amoifnt nor is he too dull ta~t-ecog- ',_ niz~ the social service he renders by subscribing to this fund. He easily un- ' · 'derstands that by subscribing to this fund he serves three people-his fellow teachers, his family, and himself. Another question that you might ask i;: Do you think that this fund is ,stable enough to serve those who need help? Sufficiently enough, it is. Let's use some c~mputation to support my answer. Last school year, in the Municipality of Clarin, Bohol, there were 54 days' absence due to illness. Assuming that the teachers ,;,ho made- the absences had an average salary of ?45.00, how much would have been given to those teachers by the Disability· Fund? It would have been 1"81.00. How much was collected . from the teachers of that municipality for the same period? · Io 1 that municipality there are.41 regular, temporary, an·d emergency teachers. Out of these '41 teacher.s, only )2 are regular, therefore, the amount of 1"191.00 would have been c_ olected as . subscriptions. There. is th'en a baliJ.nce of Pll3.00. This happens when no o·ne suffers from a lingering disease. If so, the di~l_>ursement. w~;>Uld be . bfgger. The teach~r who suffers· frQrn a lin g~ring disease wifl continue to receive aid until he is cured or until he dies. The next probable question that you may as.k is: What will be done · with ·the accumulation of balances? · This ·accumulated· amount will ·be deposited as "reserTed'' fund. Time will come when this fund would amount to a considerable sum. The Philippine Public School Teachers' Association may take proper steps for the disposition of this fund. Hospitals, dispensaries, and other charitable institutions may be constructed out of this. Through the PPSTA, I would like to invite my fellow teachers to reflect on this matter. This plan, if given a "try'' would be a great help to us and all our teachers- the less fortunate ones cspec:ially . , .