Ombud to probe nonpayment of teachers’ salaries at Talisay college

THE Visayas Ombudsman is investigating the nonpayment of salaries of four  Talisay City College (TCC) teachers.

Ritchel Bacaltos, acting TCC president, said that the Ombudsman has scheduled an April 10 meeting with the four teachers and Mayor Johnny V. delos Reyes to discuss the issue.
Bacaltos said the processing of the daily time records (DTRs) for the teachers was  stopped because of the leadership controversy at the college.

He was referring to Paulus Cañete’s appointment by Mayor Delos Reyes as TCC president.

Bacaltos said the four teachers submitted their DTRs and grade sheets to him, acknowledging him as the acting TCC president since he was appointed by the school’s board of trustees.
“I only recognized who is authorized and which was being affirmed by the Board of Trustees (BOT), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the city council,” one of the four unpaid teachers, Helmer Montejo, said.

Montejo, 37, an English professor at the college, said he’s fighting for his rights  and he believes that he should be paid for every service rendered at the school.
Montejo has been teaching at the school for a year.

Bacaltos said  the other teachers who submitted their DTRs got paid while the four who didn’t received no pay.

As of the second semester for the 2013-2014 school year, the TCC has 91 teachers and 2,100 students.

Bacaltos said aside from the  four teachers who were not paid for a month, there were also 30 non-teaching personnel who had not been paid for three to four months.

“We are only trying to help those who were not paid their salaries. It’s not easy to work and not get paid. Some of them are breadwinners. One of them failed to pay her electricity bill and had her  service  disconnected,”  he said.

Earlier, a CHED official called for the Talisay City College leaders and teachers to be united.

“As professionals, they should set aside their differences  and remember that the school was created for the benefit of the students,” said Dr. Josefino Ronquillo, CHED supervising education program specialist.