LOOK: Teacher solon files salary upgrading bill for teachers on first day of new Congress

LOOK: Teacher solon files salary upgrading bill for teachers on first day of new Congress

ACT Teachers Representative France Castro filed House Bill 203 to upgrade the salary grade of teachers as her priority bill in the 19th Congress.

"House Bill 203 is a refiled bill that aims to upgrade the salary grade of teacher 1 positions from salary grade 11 to 15. This adjustment addresses the injustice to teachers who have been left behind by other profession with similar qualifications such as nurses," Castro said "The latest adjustment of salaries through the Salary Standardization Law 5 by no means addressed the disparity between salaries of those in the low- and middle-level salary grades who comprise majority of the civil service--and those in the managerial levels and especially of top level officials.

"Teachers will still not be better off than the police and soldiers in uniform, whose salaries the Duterte administration increased by 50% to 100%. Teachers are education frontliners who have been the backbone of the continuing education amid the 2-year blended distance learning of the Department of Education with minimal support from the government," Castro stated. "The measly increases from SSL 5 will quickly be eaten away by excise taxes and inflation--especially those brought by the TRAIN Law and the never-ending fuel price hikes."

"Napag-iwanan na ang sweldo ng ating mga guro kumpara sa mga nurse, pulis at militar pero tambak rin sila ng trabaho sa loob at labas ng kanilang mga klasrum," Castro added. "Our teachers are only asking that they be given salaries that can provide them and their families decent lives. With the increasing workload of our teachers and the increasing cost of living, it is only just that they also be prioritized by the state."

"Those who are against increasing the salaries of our public school teachers argue that the salaries of public school teachers are way higher compared to the salaries given to private school teachers. What they fail to say is that private school teachers are underpaid too. The administration of Marcos Jr. should be reminded that it is its responsibility to protect and cultivate the salaries of its employees. Private institutions should not dictate the salaries of public employees, instead government salaries should be the benchmark of the wages of private institutions," Castro added.

"We also included the proposal to increase basic salaries of non-teaching personnel to P16,000. This amount was the result of past consultations and now discussions are ongoing to further raise this to P25,000 for other government employees," Castro stated.

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"We strongly urge the incoming House Leadership to immediately hear and pass the bill upgrading the salary grade of teachers and increasing the salaries of non-teaching personnel. Similarly, we call on our fellow legislators in both houses of Congress to champion this cause," Castro ended.

PRESS RELEASE

30 June 2022

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