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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No! 219

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,
BAYAN MUNA Party-List Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
Rep. FERDINAND GAITE and Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. SARAH JANE |. ELAGO

AN ACT
INCREASING THE MINIMUM SALARIES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS
AND OTHER GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
AND AUGMENTING THE PERSONNEL ECONOMIC RELIEF ALLOWANCE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill aims to increase the minimum monthly salaries of public school
teachers and other government employees. It also aims to increase the Personnel
Economic Relief Allowance granted to all government employees from P2,000 per
month to ®5,000.

Increasing the salaries of government employees, majority of whom are public
school teachers and workers in the education sector, will ease the errors in the Salary
Standardization Law (SSL) which were worsened by its latest adjustment through
Executive Order 201 (2016) and the doubling of salaries of military and uniformed
personnel through Joint Resolution 1 (2018).

First, the SSL under EO 201 grants measly increases that are quickly eaten
away by taxes and inflation—especially those brought by the TRAIN Law. The
salaries remain insufficient for a family living wage of ®1,119 per day or 33,570 per
month for a family of six to have a decent and humane condition of living. 1 The
disparity between the salary and the family living wage continues to widen, as


inflation steadily rises without corresponding timely increases in salaries. Our
employees’ earnings simply cannot catch up with the cost of living. For instance, the
present salaries of public school teachers range only from 20,179 up to ®24,224 per
month, which are way below the living wage.

Second, the SSL gives more to those who already have more, and far less to
those who have less. With this latest adjustment, the long-standing gap between the
lowest and highest paid employees was made even wider. The salary of the lowest-
ranked government employee was increased by only 22.98% (P9,000 to 11,000),
and that of a Teacher | and Nurse | by only 11.89% (P18,549 to P20,754). On the
other hand, the salaries of those occupying executive-level positions were increased
by 76.96% up to 233.12% (Salary Grade 25 to Salary Grade 33).

Civilian personnel are also left far behind now that Joint Resolution 1
increased the base pay of military and uniformed personnel, without a corresponding
adjustment in the salaries of civilian employees. This created a wide salary gap
between civilian employees and their armed counterparts, with the former on the
losing side. For instance, candidate soldiers earn ®18,587 monthly while thousands
of civilian rank-and-file employees in Salary Grades (SG) 1 to 10 are paid ®10,510 to
18,718, though they have similar, even higher qualifications, or have spent equal or
even more years in government service. A Police Officer 1 (PO1) and a Private are
now paid P29,668, almost P10,000 more than the P20,179 paid to a Teacher I, a
Nurse |, a Private Secretary, a Registrar |, and a Guidance Counselor | (SG 11) under
the third tranche of the revised Salary Standardization Law.

Hence, this bill proposes substantial salary increases for civilian personnel in
government to close the gap between public sector pay, especially among the rank-
and-file, 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 public sector pay keeps 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.


For these reasons, immediate approval of this bill is sought.

Rep. CARLOS Ay adr T. ZARATE

ACF Teacherp/Party-List BAYAN MUNA Party-List
fohomat

Rep. FERDINAND GAITE Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT

BAYAN MUNA Party-List BAYAN MUNA Party-List

Rep. SAKAI | ELAGO
TAAN Party-List



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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

0219
HOUSE BILL No.

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,
BAYAN MUNA Party-List Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
Rep. FERDINAND GAITE and Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. SARAH JANE |. ELAGO

AN ACT
INCREASING THE MINIMUM SALARIES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS
AND OTHER GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
AND AUGMENTING THE PERSONNEL ECONOMIC RELIEF ALLOWANCE

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.


SECTION 2. Raising of the Minimum Salaries of Regular Employees in Government.
The present salary of a regular entry-level position in government service shall not be
less than Sixteen Thousand Pesos (P16,000) a month. The salaries of those occupying
higher positions shall be adjusted accordingly.

SECTION 3. Raising of the Minimum Salaries of Public School Teachers in Basic
Education. The present entry-level salary of public school teachers shall not be less
than Thirty Thousand Pesos (P30,000) a month. The salaries of those occupying
higher positions shall be adjusted accordingly.

SECTION 4. Raising of the Minimum Salary Grade Level of Higher Education
Teaching Personnel. The present entry-level salary of teaching personnel in State
and Local Universities and Colleges shall not be less than Thirty One Thousand Pesos
(P31,000) a month. The salaries of all other teaching personnel occupying higher
positions shall be adjusted accordingly.

SECTION 5. Annual Adjustment of Salaries. Salaries of government personnel shall
be adjusted annually to keep pace with the cost of living. The Department of Budget
and Management (DBM), in consultation with public sector unions, shall recommend
to Congress the appropriation of the necessary funds.

SECTION 6. Augmentation of the Personnel Economic Relief Allowance. The
Personnel Economic Relief Allowance (PERA) is hereby increased from the present
Two Thousand Pesos (P2,000) a month to Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000) a month.
The PERA shall henceforth be referred to as the Augmented Personnel Economic
Relief Allowance (APERA).

SECTION 7. Rules and Regulations. The Department of Education, the Commission
‘on Higher Education, and the DBM shall promulgate the necessary rules and
regulations of the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 8. 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.

SECTION 9. Separability Clause. Should any provision herein be declared
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of the other provisions of this
Act.

SECTION 10. 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.


SECTION 11. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,