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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 5998

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
UPGRADING THE MINIMUM SALARIES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS TO SALARY
GRADE 15, TEACHING PERSONNEL IN HIGHER EDUCATION TO SALARY GRADE 16,
AND OF NON-TEACHING PERSONNEL TO ?16,000

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Salary Standardization Law has just been amended but the struggle of
public school teachers, faculty in state and local universities and colleges, and
education sector personnel for salaries that can afford decent lives for them and their
families is far from over.

This latest adjustment, via Republic Act 11466, 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 he or she gets. Those who need additional finances
most are given mere loose change—for one in Salary Grade 1, an average of 483
annual increase, to be exact. On the other hand, top officials like those in SG 31 and
SG 33 including members of the cabinet and of Congress and the President are given
annual increases of more than ®5,000 up to ®7,762.


Even after the last tranche of SSL V in 2023, 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%. Teachers are given increases of a little over
6,000 spread across four years, or about ®1,500 annually. Teachers 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 will be quickly eaten away by excise taxes and
inflation—especially those brought by the TRAIN Law. For mid-level personnel like
teachers, income taxes will further reduce their take-home pay, as their salaries will
go past the ®250,000-cap for exempt incomes. The salaries of majority in the civilian
bureaucracy 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. The
disparity between the salary and the family living wage continues to widen, as inflation
steadily rises without corresponding timely increases in salaries.

Hence, this bill proposes substantial salary increases through salary upgrading
for teachers and education sector personnel 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.

Furthermore, the need for Salary Grade 15 for entry-level public school
teachers is highlighted with the recent Supreme Court decision which upheld Salary
Grade 15 for public nurses and ordered the funding of their victory, one
unacknowledged by government since 2002. Government nurses and public school
teachers possess comparable qualifications, training, and duties—both being frontline
employees in the delivery of basic health and education services—and our laws such
as the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (Republic Act 4670) mandate that their
salaries must also be comparable.

This bill parallels the demand of the rest of those dutifully toiling in the civilian
bureaucracy for substantial salary increases and for a national minimum salary of
16,000, as well as the demand of workers in the private sector for a national
minimum daily wage of ®750.


Heeding the demand for substantial salary increases promotes and protects the
rights of the majority of our frontliners in education to decent lives, 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 teachers and non-teaching personnel.

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

jQ—
Rep. CARLOS JSAGANI T. ZARATE Rep. FERDINAND GAITE
BAYAN MUNA Party-List BAYAN MUNA Party-List

Detirwot fai
Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT Repl ar IE D. BROSAS

BAYAN MUNA Party-List GABRIELA Women’s Party

JANE |. ELAGO
\N Party-List


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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 5930

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 I. ELAGO

AN ACT
UPGRADING THE MINIMUM SALARIES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS TO SALARY
GRADE 15, TEACHING PERSONNEL IN HIGHER EDUCATION TO SALARY GRADE 16,
AND OF NON-TEACHING PERSONNEL TO 16,000

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

SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. It 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
fulfilment 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 Public School Teachers in Basic
Education. The present minimum salary grade level of public school teachers shall be
upgraded from Salary Grade 11 to Salary Grade 15. Salary grade levels of those
occupying higher positions shall be adjusted accordingly.

SECTION 3. Raising of the Minimum Salaries of Public Teaching Personnel in Higher
Education. The present minimum salary grade level of teaching personnel or
instructors in public universities and colleges shall be upgraded from Salary Grade 12
to Salary Grade 16. Salary grade levels of all other teaching personnel occupying
higher positions shall be adjusted accordingly.

SECTION 4. Raising of the Minimum Salaries of Regular Employees in Public
Elementary and High Schools. The present salary of a regular entry-level position in
government service shall not be less than Sixteen Thousand Pesos (P.16,000) a month.
The salaries of those occupying higher positions shall be adjusted accordingly.

SECTION 5. Annual Adjustment of Salaries. Salaries of public school teachers and non-
teaching 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. 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 7. 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 8. Separability Clause. Should any provision herein be declared
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity of the other provisions of this
Act.

SECTION 9. 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 10. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,