Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 14)— Senators passed on second reading on Monday a bill that would hike the allowance of public school teachers to ₱10,000 by 2024.
Under Senate Bill No. 1092, the allowance increase among public school teachers will be done in three phases.
Starting 2021, public school teachers will receive an additional ₱5,000 for their teaching allowance, and this will take effect until 2023.
By the start of school year 2023-2024, these teachers will get ₱7,500 allowance. For the next school year 2024-2025, their allowance will reach ₱10,000.
The measure states that funds for the public school teachers’ allowances will be placed in the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd).
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon initially suggested to increase teachers’ allowances to ₱20,000, but he balked at his proposal due to the expected lower tax collections in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We recognize the need of our teachers to have this allowance because of the changes in the nature of their functions as a result of the pandemic, they may need more funds than the ₱5,000 being proposed,” Drilon said during the plenary debates for the bill.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Bong Revilla, agreed with Drilon’s observation.
“We can only afford to increase it by ₱1,500 so for 2 school years, the cash allowance will be ₱5,000,” added Revilla.
Public school teachers are currently receiving ₱3,500 allowance for their teaching supplies for the school year 2021-2022.
DepEd gave ₱1,500 incentive to about 880,000 public school teachers last October 5, in time for the celebration of World Teachers’ Day and the opening of ‘blended’ classes in public schools. The Education Department is mandated through Department Order No. 029-2020 to grant ₱1,000 as the World Teachers’ Day Incentive Benefit, while the additional ₱500 are for their expenses for medical tests to ensure their safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
