Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 5133

Introduced by HON. MUJIV S. HATAMAN of the Lone District of Basilan and
HON. AMIHILDA J. SANGCOPAN of Anak Mindanao Party-List

EXPLANATORY NOTE

To state that public school teachers are one of the lowest paid public servants in the country is
a gross understatement. For the work and service they render, they are paid a pittance. Aside
from their primary role as educators, they also act as the second parents of our children outside
of our homes.

And it does not stop there. To their students, they also serve as life mentors, motivational
speakers, career advisers, guidance counselors and even social workers. These are among the
many hats they wear that are not in their official job description the moment they step into
school. Added to these are the mountains of clerical work they do that has nothing to do with
teaching, as well as the perennial thankless - and sometimes life-threatening - job they perform
for the local and national elections.

In short, their job and the roles they play require them to be nothing less than heroes, and they
should be treated as such. However, most of them do not feel this level of importance,
especially when it comes to the amount of wages and compensation they receive from the State.

‘The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines places a high premium on education
when it comes to budgetary priority. It also stresses the importance of attracting the best
educators through adequate pay.

In exact terms, our fundamental law states in Article XIV, Section 5 (5) the following: “The
state shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will
attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration
and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.”


But the sad reality is our public school teachers - over 900,000-strong all over the country - are
underpaid considering the services they render. An entry-level teacher with a plantilla position
of Teacher I and Salary Grade 11 will receive P20,754 monthly or P249,048 annually. He or
she will get approximately over P74,000 in bonuses and allowances per year.

An entry-level teacher who labored four years in college and looking to start her career in the
public school system will earn roughly a little over P26,000 monthly. This is much less than
the industry-average for the BPO industry that even take in college level professionals and even
high school graduates.

And we wonder why our public school teachers are drowning in debt? Even Education Sec.
Leonor Briones made this admission. This needs to be addressed.

This measure seeks to increase the basic pay of our public school teachers and provide them
with the compensation best suited to the roles they play in our society. In particular, this,
measure hopes to provide an increase of Ten Thousand Pesos (Php 10,000.00) across the board,
in the basic compensation of government educators.

Itis high time that we put Article XIV, Section 5 (5) of the Constitution into action and "ensure
that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents.” We can do
this through a legislated pay hike for our teachers who really deserve a huge bump in
remuneration.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly requested.

AMIRI saconay
Represchtative, Arfak Mindanao Party-List

Ht



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

5133
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by HON. MUJIV S. HATAMAN of the Lone District of Basilan and
HON. AMIHILDA J. SANGCOPAN of Anak Mindanao Party-List

AN ACT
PROVIDING A TEN THOUSAND PESOS (P10,000.00) ACROSS-THE-
BOARD INCREASE IN THE BASIC MONTHLY SALARY OF PUBLIC
SCHOOL TEACHERS AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. All public school teachers, regardless of length of service,
employment status and position, are entitled to an across-the-board increase of
Ten thousand pesos (P 10,000.00) to their existing basic monthly salary.

For purposes of this Act, public school teacher refers to a person engaged
in teaching or qualified to practice teaching under Republic Act No. 7836,
otherwise known as the “Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994,”
in the elementary and secondary levels, whether on full-time or part-time basis
including industrial arts and vocational teachers and all other persons performing

supervisory, managerial and administrative functions in all public schools and


education offices at the district, division, regional and central levels, and those
performing functions in support of education such as standards setting, policy and
programs formulation, research and sector monitoring, and evaluation.

SEC. 2. The amount necessary for the initial implementation of the
provisions of this Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriations
of the Department of Education under the General Appropriations Act.
Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continued implementation
of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 3. Within sixty (60) days from the approval of this Act, the Secretary
of Budget and Management, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall
promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation
of this Act.

SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,