A legislator from the Bicol Region is asking Congress to expedite the passage of two measures that increase the pay of some 800,000 public school teachers.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte aired the appeal in support of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s commitment in his 2023 campaign promise for a salary increase for these teachers to help them cope with the ever-increasing cost of living.
Villafuerte and three fellow CamSur representatives have authored House Bill (HB) 1851 mandating a significant increase in the salary grade level of public elementary and high school teachers from Grade 11 to Grade 19.
They likewise authored HB 1849 which seeks to make permanent the school supplies’ allowance of P5,000 that public school teachers have been entitled to during the Covid-19 pandemic to lessen their burden in coughing up their money to deliver education services during the hybrid learning system of face-to-face and remote or online teaching.
Villafuerte sought the fast approval of the two complementary bills after Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte bared a directive from Marcos for the DepEd to study how to further adjust the salaries of public school teachers that are over and above the wage increase that they receive annually under the Salary Standardization Law (SSL).
School Year 2023-2024 opened for public schools on August 29 with the total number of registered students exceeding 24 million.
“So, we are waiting for the result of that study that should be based on the inflation rate and the economic indicators in the coming year,” Duterte said.
Villafuerte supported the President’s directive to the DepEd as he pointed out that, “Despite their heavy workload and essential role as agents of constructive intellectual, social, cultural, political and moral change in our society, our public school teachers are among the most underpaid workers in the country.”
“Increasing their take-home pay and providing for a permanent teaching supplies allowance with a provision for a steady bump per schoolyear (SY) will hopefully incentivize them to strive for excellence in their field and make teaching a more attractive profession for our students.”
The Department of Education (DepEd) last week kicked off the annual month-long celebration of National Teachers’ Month, which will run till October 5.