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 Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _____ 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Introduced by  
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,  
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,  
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR ONE (1) SERVICE LAPTOP FOR EVERY PUBLIC 
SCHOOL TEACHER IN THE PHILIPPINES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS 
THEREOF 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
This bill proposes to provide one (1) service laptop for every public school 
teacher to alleviate their financial burdens due to meager salaries and insufficient 
teaching supplies allowance.  Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, much of 
teachers’ duties and tasks already rely on technology, such as when they submit their 
reports, or make lesson plans, modules, exams, instructional materials, and other 
teaching or non-teaching-related tasks.  Gone are the days that teachers will rely on 
handwritten outputs.  
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic happened, teachers were forced to shell out 
more from their meager salaries just to render education services through blended or 
online learning by securing laptops, gadgets, load, internet connection or 
subscription, and other materials.  The COVID-19 pandemic showed to us how 
pathetic our education system is, teachers were not equipped with proper tools to 
educate our students effectively and properly through blended modes or online.  As 
most teachers, especially those in rural areas, do not have their own laptops or even 
internet connectivity.  They usually do not qualify under the Department of 
Education’s computerization program, whether for the provision of desktops or 
laptops.  More often than not, they will rely on laptops procured by the school or by 
October 18, 2022
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the local government unit. 
If government has not previously seen fit to sufficiently provide teachers the 
tools that are necessary for their duties and tasks, now is the suitable time.  If 
policemen are provided with their service firearms, and office workers in most 
government agencies are provided with office supplies and computers, then there is 
no reason that public school teachers are not provided with service laptops.  
For the foregoing reasons, urgent approval of this bill is sought. 
________________________________ 
Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO 
ACT Teachers Party-List 
________________________________ 
Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS 
GABRIELA Women’s Party 
________________________________ 
Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
KABATAAN Party-List 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Batasan Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL No. _____ 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Introduced by  
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,  
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,  
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. RAOUL DANNIEL A. MANUEL 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR ONE (1) SERVICE LAPTOP FOR EVERY PUBLIC 
SCHOOL TEACHER IN THE PHILIPPINES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS 
THEREOF 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. – The State recognizes the vital role of our public 
school teachers in nation building and as such, they are the foundation of the Filipino 
youth through the education services they provide. 
It is also in consonance with the government’s constitutional duty to protect and 
promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels.  The State shall 
therefore take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. 
The State shall ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the 
available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and 
fulfillment. 
SEC. 2.  Definition. – As used in this Act, the term “teacher” shall mean all persons 
engaged in classroom teaching, in any level of instruction, on full-time basis, including 
guidance counselors, school librarians, and all other persons performing supervisory 
and/or administrative functions in all schools under the Department of Education, but 
shall not include school nurses, school physicians, school dentists, and other school 
employees. 
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SEC. 3. Provision of Service Laptops to Public School Teachers. – Every public 
school teacher under the Department of Education (DepEd) shall receive one (1) service 
laptop each. 
 
 
For this purpose, the DepEd and Department of Budget and Management 
(DBM), shall determine the total number of public school teachers and procure one (1) 
service laptop for each public school teacher.  The distribution of the laptops will be 
done in two tranches, thus: 
 
1. For School Year 2023-2024, the laptops shall be distributed to all classroom 
teachers, namely, Teacher I to Master Teacher IV, Special Education Teacher I 
to Special Education Teacher III, Special Science Teacher I to Special Science 
Teacher V, and other teaching-related positions; 
 
2. For School Year 2024-2025, the laptops shall be distributed to administrative or 
supervisory positions such as Principal I to Principal IV, Assistant School 
Principal I to III, Special School Principal, Vocational School Administrator I 
and Vocational School Administrator III, and Head Teacher I to VI; and 
 
3. The DepEd shall likewise ensure that each teacher newly-hired upon effectivity 
of this Act is issued a service laptop.  
 
 
The DepEd, in coordination with the Department of Information and 
Communications and Technology (DICT), shall consider and formulate the technical 
qualifications and specifications needed for the procurement of service laptops to 
ensure effective performance of duty of our public school teachers.  Further, the DICT 
shall ensure the efficacy of said laptops through regular repair and maintenance of the 
same. 
 
SEC. 3.  Monitoring. – The DepEd, in strict coordination with its Divisions as well as 
the unions and organizations of public school teachers, shall monitor the 
implementation of this Act, including but not limited to the budgetary requirements.  It 
shall submit the results of such monitoring annually to the Senate Committee on Basic 
Education, Arts and Culture, the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, 
and the Department of Budget and Management. 
 
SEC. 4. Strict Implementation of the Procurement Process. – The procurement of the 
service laptops shall comply with the strict implementation of Republic Act 9184 or the 
Government Procurement Reform Act, thus: 
 
1. The DepEd shall first go through Competitive Bidding under Article IV thereof, 
whether the Single-Stage and Two-Stage Public Bidding; 
2. After exhaustion of the measures under Competitive Bidding, the DepEd shall 
then resort to either of two alternative modes of procurement, namely, Repeat 
Order under Section 51 or Negotiated Procurement under Section 53 (a); and 


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3. In all cases, the DepEd shall incorporate all measures and actions it has 
undertaken, including compliance with the terms and conditions prior to 
resorting to Repeat Order or Negotiated Procurement, in its report under the 
preceding Section. 
 
SEC. 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – The DepEd shall promulgate the 
necessary rules and regulations for the faithful and effective implementation of the 
provisions of this Act within thirty (30) days from the date of its effectivity. 
 
Failure to comply with the mandate of this Section will render the responsible 
officials liable under relevant laws and administrative rules. 
 
SEC. 6. Appropriations. – Upon effectivity of this Act, the amounts necessary for its 
implementation shall be charged against the current appropriations of the 
DepEd.  Thereafter, the funds shall be provided in the annual General Appropriations 
Act. 
 
SEC. 7.  Separability Clause. – Should any provision of this Act or any part thereof be 
declared invalid, the other provisions, insofar as they are separable from the invalid 
ones, shall remain in full force and effect. 
 
SEC. 8.  Repealing Clause. – Any provision of laws, orders, agreements, rules, or 
regulations contrary to and inconsistent with this Act is hereby repealed, amended or 
modified accordingly. 
 
SEC. 9.  Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete 
publication either in the Official Gazette, or in at least two (2) newspapers of general 
circulation. 
 
 
Approved,