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

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 6311

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
CREATING IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION THE PLANTILLA POSITIONS OF GUIDANCE
COUNSELORS IN EVERY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND ADDITIONAL PLANTILLA POSITIONS OF
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR FOR HIGH SCHOOL, INCREASING THE SALARIES OF GUIDANCE
COUNSELORS AND GUIDANCE-RELATED POSITIONS, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Guidance and counseling play an important part in the holistic development of a child.
They address the basic psychological needs of children and strengthen the educational
program of schools.

School guidance and counseling seek to provide for the realization of students’
potentialities, to help children with developing problems, to contribute to the development
of the school’s curriculum, to provide teachers with technical assistance, and to contribute to
the mutual adjustment of students and the school. Guidance counselors and guidance-
related personnel even aim to increase school participation and to lessen drop-out incidences
by determining addressing factors for absences, failures, drop-outs, and others, as well as
conducting targeted interventions for learners suffering from such factors.

The Philippine public school system is flooded with challenges including classroom
management, student discipline, and the necessity to address the needs of underachieving
students and children with learning and other disabilities. These challenges demonstrate the
pressing need for a sufficient number of guidance counselors who have the professional
expertise and training to help the youth not only in their present lives as students, but also

* Gibson, R.L,, Introduction to Guidance and Counseling (2008)


with their future—college and career aspirations, personal and social development, and
more.

Republic Act 9258 or the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004 provides for a policy of
promoting the “improvement, advancement, and protection of the guidance and counseling
services profession by undertaking and instituting measures that will result in professional,
ethical, relevant, efficient, and effective guidance and counseling services for the
development and enrichment of individuals and group lives.”?

However, these needs are unmet, as the Guidance Counselor and guidance-related
positions (Guidance Coordinator, Guidance Services Associate, and Guidance Services
Specialist) are rare within the Department of Education. First, the government provides
Guidance Counselor items only for high schools—there are none for elementary schools.
Most elementary schools assign guidance counseling and coordinating duties to public school
teachers despite their lack of qualifications and training for the job, and notwithstanding the
fact that guidance counselling is an additional load or burden to the teachers. As of August
2017, the DepEd has only 1,457 Guidance Counselor I-Ill and Guidance Coordinator L-III items
nationwide.

Second, the few guidance-related items provided are not being filled up because of
the low compensation offered (minimum of Salary Grade 11) despite the high qualifications
(a masteral degree, among others), expertise and the heavy case load. When the Salary
Standardization Law took effect in 1989, the guidance counselors’ salary grade became
equivalent to Teacher III despite their specialty and higher qualifications. As a result, most
licensed guidance counselors are found in private schools that can offer good compensation.

This bill therefore seeks to increase the number of guidance counselors and guidance-
related personnel in the public school system by mandating the creation of sufficient plantilla
Positions for our public schools and to attract more of them by increasing their salaries.

This bill, originally filed in the 18th Congress by ACT Teachers with the Makabayan bloc
as House Bill 509, was incorrectly consolidated in what became Republic Act 11466 or the
Salary Standardization Law of 2019 because this bill covers the creation of plantilla for
guidance counselors and not just salary upgrading. Aside from disregarding the demand of
guidance counselors for decent salaries, this erroneous disposition of our bill dismissed the
proposal for the creation of sufficient plantilla positions for guidance counselors. Hence, the
refiling of this bill.

? article 1, Section 2


For the foregoing reasons, urgent approval of this bill is sought.

Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE fp. FERDINAND GAITE
BAYAN MUNA Party-List BAYAN MUNA Porty-List

Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT
BAYAN MUNA Porty-List



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. ene

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
CREATING IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION THE PLANTILLA POSITIONS OF GUIDANCE
COUNSELORS IN EVERY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND ADDITIONAL PLANTILLA POSITIONS OF
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR FOR HIGH SCHOOL, INCREASING THE SALARIES OF GUIDANCE
COUNSELORS AND GUIDANCE-RELATED POSITIONS, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS
THEREFOR

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

SECTION 1. Creation of plantilla positions. The Department of Education, with the
Department of Budget and Management, shall ensure that there is sufficient number of
plantilla positions for guidance counselors in every public elementary and high school.

For purposes of this Act, the Department of Education shall endeavor to meet the
recommended ratios of one guidance counselor for every 200 students in the public
elementary and high schools.

SECTION 2. Increase in Salary Grades of Guidance Coordinators, Guidance Counselors,
Guidance Services Associates, and Guidance Services Specialists. The present minimum
salary grade levels of guidance coordinators, guidance counselor, guidance services
associates, and guidance services specialists shall be increased in the following manner:

Current Increased
Current Position Classification Salary Grade | Salary Grade
Guidance Counselor | 1 16
| Guidance Counselor I! 2 17



Guidance Counselor III 123 18
Guidance Coordinator | 14 19
Guidance Coordinator II 15 20
Guidance Coordinator Il! 16 21
Guidance Services Associate | 12 17
Guidance Services Associate I! 14 19
Guidance Services Specialist | 16 20
Guidance Services Specialist | 18 21
Guidance Services Specialist III 20 22
Guidance Services Specialist IV 22 23
Guidance Services Specialist V 24 24

SECTION 3. Appropriations. The amounts necessary for the initial implementation of this Act
shall be charged against the savings of the Department of Education. Thereafter, the funds
shall be provided in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 4. Separability Clause. Should any provision herein be declared unconstitutional,
the same shall not affect the validity of the other provisions of this Act.

SECTION 5. Repealing Clause. All other laws, decrees, orders, issuances, rules and
regulations which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed,
amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 6. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from the publication in the
Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,