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

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

OAS
House Bill No. 20

Introduced by
Representative Antonio L. Tinio

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill aims to increase the minimum monthly salaries of teaching and non-teaching
personnel in public elementary and secondary schools.

As stated in Article XIV, Section 5(5) of the Philippine Constitution, 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.” In addition, Republic Act 4670, otherwise known as The
Magna Carta for Public Schoo! Teachers, mandates the following criteria for salaries of
public school teachers:

1) “They shall compare favorably with those paid in other occupations requiring
equivalent or similar qualifications, training and abilities” (Section 15 (a));

2) “They shall be such as to insure teachers a reasonable standard of life for
themselves and their families” (Section 15 (b)).

The current pay scheme of government fails to fulfill these criteria. Salaries of public school
teachers do not compare favorably with other occupations in government. A duly licensed
professional teacher occupying the entry-level position of Teacher | earns P18,549 a month
(Salary Grade 11, Step 1), substantially less than a high school graduate who enters the
Philippine Military Academy as a cadet who has a monthly salary of P21,709 per month.
Neither does teachers’ pay compare favorably with those employed as call center agents.
The salary for call center employment, which requires neither formal education nor
bachelor’s degree, ranges from P15,000 to P25,000 a month.

The salaries of public school teachers are currently unable to “insure a reasonable standard
of life for themselves and their families.” According to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers,
the family living wage in the National Capital Region, estimated at P957 per day or more
than P21,054 per month, which means that many teachers resort to borrowing from


government financial institutions such as the Government Service Insurance System, private
lending institutions, or loan sharks in order to cope with this “living salary gap.”

This situation has obviously pushed some of our best teachers out of the country to seek
better pay and working conditions overseas. There is a huge gap in salary levels of teachers
in the country compared with those abroad. For example, Filipino teachers who choose to
practice their profession in the United States receive annual salaries ranging from P1.5 to
P2.1 million. Meanwhile, an entry-level Teacher | receives P241,137 annually. Sadly, due to
the low pay, many of our teachers migrate to work not as teachers but as domestic helpers,
nannies, or caregivers.

Appalling economic conditions also overwhelm non-teaching personnel, who perform
functions complementary to that of teachers’ duties inside the classroom. As with other
low- and middle-level government employees, they are also battered with indecently low
pay, receiving a salary of P9,000 per month at the least (Salary Grade 1, Step 1), which is
lower than the minimum wage in the National Capital Region. This is regardless of
protections accorded to them by law and international instruments, chief of which are the
rights to just and favorable conditions of work and to living and decent wage (Article 23(1)
and (3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 7(a) of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)

Efforts of the government to upgrade the educational system cannot succeed as long as
teachers and education workers are not accorded decent salaries.

For the above-cited reasons, immediate approval of this bill is earnestly urged.

ANTONIO L. TINIO


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

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No.

Introduced by
ACT TEACHERS Party-List Representative Antonio L. Tinio

AN ACT
INCREASING THE MINIMUM MONTHLY SALARIES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS TO
TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND PESOS (P25,000) AND NON-TEACHING PERSONNEL TO FIFTEEN
THOUSAND PESOS (P15,000)

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

SECTION 1. Reiteration of Policy. 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
humane conditions of work and a living wage.

SECTION 2. Coverage. This Act shall cover all teaching and non-teaching personnel in all
public schools in the elementary and secondary levels, whether nationally or locally funded,
including those in technical and vocational schools and state universities and colleges.

SECTION 3. Raising of the Minimum Salaries of Public School Teachers. The present
minimum salaries of public schoo! teachers in the elementary and secondary schools shall
be raised from P18,549 to P25,000 a month. The salaries of those occupying higher
positions shall be adjusted accordingly

SECTION 4. Raising of the Minimum Salaries of Non-Teaching Personnel. The present
minimum salaries of non-teaching personnel in the elementary and secondary schools shall
be raised from P9,000 to P15,000 a month. The salaries of those occupying higher positions
shall be adjusted accordingly.


SECTION 5. Priority in Budget Allocation. The Government shall appropriate such amount
as may be necessary to carry out the objectives of this Act, Provided, that the salary increase
of teaching and non-teaching personnel in public schools shall take priority over non-
educational and non-agricultural budgetary allocations.

SECTION 6. Rules and Regulations. The Department of Education and the Department of
Budget and Management shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations of the
provisions of this Act.

SECTION 7. Appropriations. The initial funding required for the implementation of this Act
shall be sourced from the savings of the Executive Branch of the government and other
possible sources that may be determined by the Office of the President, and subsequent
funds needed shall be included in the General Appropriations Act for the year following the
implementation of this 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 one (1) newspaper of general circulation.

Approved.