Teachers welcome suspension of state incentive system

MANILA, Philippines — Public school teachers welcomed the suspension of the government’s Results-Based Performance Management System (RBPMS) and Performance-Based Incentive System (PBI), noting that they have long denounced the merit system as an additional burden that “does little to improve the quality of education.”

While the Alliance of Concerned Teachers-National Capital Region (ACT-NCR) Union welcomed the President
In light of Marcos’ decision to suspend the merit system, the group reiterated its demand for the elimination of the “onerous” assessment altogether.

“We welcome President Marcos’ move to review the RPMS as it is a major source of stress and unnecessary workload for teachers after one school year,” said ACT-NCR union president Ruby Bernardo.

“We continue to call on the government to abolish this RPMS completely. It has long been draining our teachers of time, energy and resources. We also call for the abolition of the PBI. This system has proven to be time-consuming, misleading, discriminatory and divisive. We also call for decent wages and fair benefits across the board,” Bernardo added.

Stressing that the RBPMS and PBI systems are “overlapping” and “redundant” with the government’s internal and external performance review and evaluation systems, Marcos issued Executive Order 61, which aims to harmonize the two systems.

EO 61 seeks to streamline the government performance management and incentive system and align it with ease of doing business initiatives and international standards. Malacañang pointed out that the current systems lack a review mechanism, which has led to an accumulation of rules, regulations, and issuances of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Harmonization of National Government Performance Monitoring, Information, and Reporting Systems.

Bernardo, a public school teacher in Quezon City, stressed that the RPMS and other similar measures have only increased the bureaucratic burden on teachers without providing them with meaningful support or incentives for their professional growth and development.

“Instead of wasting time and resources on these empty and burdensome bureaucratic exercises, the government should focus on ensuring significant salary increases and better working conditions for teachers,” she said.

The ACT-NCR union leader also urged Marcos to work with the union and ACT Philippines to develop evaluation mechanisms that are befitting the teaching profession.

“We call on the president to listen to the voice of local teachers and work closely with our unions and organizations,” Bernardo said.