SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
)
First Regular Session 
)
S E N A T E
S. B. No.
75
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR ALAN PETER “COMPANERO" S. CAYETANO
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT AND COMPENSATION FOR EDUCATORS IN BASIC
EDUCATION
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The importance of the teaching profession was validated by a 1998 World Bank study, 
which pointed out that the role of teachers is considered as the "single most influential factor” 
behind a student’s performance. This recognition is not new. More than four decades ago, or on 
June 18, 1966, our public school teachers rejoiced in the enactment of R.A. No. 4670, or the Magna 
Carta for Public School Teachers, which aimed (t]o promote and improve the social and economic 
status of public school teachers, their living and working conditions, their terms of employment and 
career prospects in order that they may compare favorably with existing opportunities in other walks 
of life, attract and retain in the teaching profession more people with the proper qualifications, it 
being recognized that advance in education depends on the qualifications and ability of the teaching 
staff and that education is an essential factor in the economic growth of the nation as a productive 
investment of vital importance.
The present salary grade given to teachers is not the appropriate salary grade that teachers 
should be entitled to, based on their qualifications. According to the DepEd, "Teachers should have 
the equivalent salary grade of a 1st Lieutenant in the Philippine Army, SG 17." This was the same 
finding of the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) way back in 1991, when they 
recommended that the salary grade of a Teacher 1 should be SG 17. The EDCOM Report concluded 
that the level of compensation of teachers is low "relative to the functional definition of the teaching 
job, the sensitiveness of the teaching responsibility, the technical requirements of the job, the time 
required for it and the intellectual demand it makes."
The bill is in response to the clamor of our public school teachers for the urgently needed 
support, considering that their present compensation package places them in a peculiar situation of 
being just within the present poverty threshold. It also endeavors to place the teaching profession 
to be, at least in the same position as that of other professions like the police and the military in 
terms of compensation given the qualification requirements of becoming a teacher. The bill also 
seeks to remedy the current problems of teachers relative to the provisions of the magna carta 
which since its enactment in 1966 continues to be unimplemented and to prevent the massive 
exodus of the members of the teaching profession who are seeking jobs in other countries, the type 
of brain drain that this country cannot afford.
This bill seeks to provide additional support and compensation for educators in basic 
education. First, it shall provide for an across the board additional compensation for educators. It 
will also afford the teachers a comprehensive package of additional benefits which includes a 
medical allowance of at least Phpl,000.00 that will be given for check-ups and other medical 
expenses and an annual Magna Carta bonus to answer for the unpaid benefits due to the teachers