Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 203

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RENEE LOUISE M. CO

AN ACT
INCREASING THE MINIMUM SALARIES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL
TEACHERS TO P50,000 AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Salary Standardization Law was amended in 2020 and 2024 but the struggle
of public school teachers for salaries that can afford decent lives for them and their
families is far from over.

These latest adjustments by no means addressed the disparity between the
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 officials. As
always, the rank-and-file are at the losing end in this set-up. As one goes lower in salary
grade—clerks, administrative aides, down to the janitorial positions—the poorer they
get. Those who need additional finances most are given mere loose change. Even with
the latest salary adjustment, the monthly pay of even mid-level personnel like public
school teachers (Salary Grade 11, P30,024 for Step 1)—estimated to be about 803,272
occupying Teacher I to Teacher III positions per latest data released by the Department


of Budget and Management and Department of Education (2022 Manpower
Information System)—remains insufficient for a family living wage of P1,217 per day
or 36,510 per month for a family of five to have a decent and humane condition of
living.

On the other hand, top officials like those in SG 31 to SG 33, including members
of the cabinet and of Congress and the President, are paid P293,191 up to P438,844.

Even after the last tranche of SSL V and the 2025 installment of SSL VI, the
frontliners in education will still be no better off than the police and soldiers in uniform,
whose salaries the Duterte administration increased by 50% to 100%. Public school
teachers, for instance, are given increases of just 4.95% to 5.6% (increases from SSL V
to SSL VI of Teacher III and Teacher I, respectively). They might not bear arms, but
they are professionals with qualifications higher than police and soldiers. Teachers
cannot enter and remain in the service without the training and fortitude required of the
daily and myriad battles in public education—and it must never be alleged that their
qualifications, training, and fortitude are less than those of the police and the military.

These measly increases are quickly eaten away by inflation and excise taxes —
especially those brought by the TRAIN Law. For mid-level personnel like teachers,
income taxes further reduce their take-home pay, as their salaries go past the P250,000-
cap for exempt incomes. The disparity between the salary and the family living wage
continues to widen, as inflation steadily rises without corresponding timely increases in
. With the measly salaries that public school teachers are receiving, they could
not afford their families’ basic needs.

At present, their dire financial woes only worsened, considering the COVID-19
pandemic and several slaps of increases in the prices of fuel and basic commodities.
Indeed, how far can P30,024 take a Teacher I and his or her family at a time when fuel
prices rise almost weekly? It must be stressed that this level of pay of the main
frontliners of education—professionals who went through long years of academic and
practical training—amounts to less than the family living wage. No wonder most
teachers would rather work abroad despite the risks and hazards to carn almost thrice
or eight times the entry-level salary.

Moreover, the economic crisis post-COVID-19 as well as the international oil
crisis, the Filipino people, including government employees, are suffering from rising
prices of food and basic goods and services, and oil price hikes. Philippine Statistics


Authority data shows that prices of goods and services in the National Capital Region
have increased, with the May 2025 consumer price index at 123.9. This means that
what one can buy in 2018 (the base year) for P100 now costs P123.90. In real-life
terms: a full, heavy basket or bag from the palengke seven years ago could nowadays
be just half-full and heartbreakingly easy to take home.

Hence, this bill proposes substantial salary increases for public school teachers
to close the gap between their salaries and the cost of living. It will also address the
distortion created by the doubling of entry-level pay of military and uniformed
personnel. It also proposes the annual adjustment of salaries to ensure that these keep
pace with the cost of living. This bill mandates the Department of Budget and
Management, in consultation with public sector unions, to recommend to Congress the
appropriation of the necessary funds.

This bill parallels the demand of the rest of those dutifully toiling in the civilian
bureaucracy for substantial salary increases, as well as the demand of workers in the
private sector for a national minimum daily wage.

Heeding the demand for substantial salary increases promotes and protects the
rights of the majority of our frontliners in education to decent lives, to be fully
compensated for their hard work, and to a just return of the taxes they are faithfully
paying. It is a matter of justice, one that must be granted at the soonest possible time
for public school teachers.

Again, teachers fear that the final adjustment of the Salary Standardization Law
will follow the trend of past adjustments of giving paltry increases to those in the rank-
and-file, thus further distorting the salary scales to their disadvantage. which are not
followed for several long years by new adjustments after the last tranche. Indeed. there
is an urgent need for salary increases for public school teachers, along with other
government employees.


For the foregoing reasons, the passage of this bill is sought.

Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO- Rep. RE) —_ M.CO
ACT Teachers Party-List KABATAAN Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 203

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. ANTONIO L. TINIO
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RENEE LOUISE M. CO

AN ACT
INCREASING THE MINIMUM SALARIES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL
TEACHERS TO P50,000 AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

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

SECTION 1. Declaration of policy. \t is hereby declared the policy of the State to
alleviate the living conditions of government employees and to guarantee employees”
rights to living wage.

The State policies of ensuring that education receives the highest budgetary
priority and 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 are hereby reiterated.

In the formulation of decisions with regard to education reforms, the State shall
likewise hold paramount the protection and promotion of the right of citizens to quality
education at all levels and the rights of education workers to human conditions of work
and a living wage.

SEC. 2. Raising of minimum salaries for public school teachers in basic education.
The present minimum monthly salary for public school teachers shall be equivalent to
Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000) per month or equivalent to salary grade (SG) 15 of the
Salary Standardization Law, as amended, or whichever is higher, Provided, That
salaries of those occupying higher positions shall be adjusted accordingly.


SEC. 3. Annual adjustment of salaries. Salaries of public school teachers shall be
adjusted annually to keep pace with the cost of living. The Department of Budget and
Management (DBM), upon consultation with the unions and organizations of public
school teachers, shall recommend to Congress the appropriation of the necessary funds.

SEC. 4, Rules and regulations. The Department of Education, the Commission on
Higher Education, and the DBM shall, upon consultation with the unions and
organizations of public school teachers, promulgate the necessary rules and regulations
of the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 5. Appropriations. The amount necessary for the initial implementation of this
Act shall be taken from current appropriations. Thereafter, funds needed in subsequent
years shall be included in the General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 6. Separability clause. Should any provision herein be declared unconstitutional,
the same shall not affect the validity of the other provisions of this Act.

SEC. 7. Repealing clause. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or other
issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed.

SEC. 8. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation

Approved,