House bill proposes P50k starting salary for public school teachers
A bill seeking to raise the entry-level salary of public teachers to P50,000 monthly has been revived in the House of Representatives.
ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co introduced House Bill 203 on the first day of the 20th Congress on June 30.
According to the lawmakers, although the Salary Standardization Law was amended in 2020 and 2024, the monthly pay for a Teacher I position in public schools (Salary Grade 11 or P30,024) remains "insufficient" to afford "decent lives for them and their families."
Non-profit organization Ibon Foundation found that a family of five in NCR should have a wage of P1,217 per day or P26,479 per month to live decently.
Tinio and Co also noted that the proposed increase would address the "distortion" created by the doubling of the starting pay of military and uniformed personnel. During former president Rodrigo Duterte's administration, he increased the base pay of a Police Officer I by 100%.
“It must be stressed that this level of pay of the main frontliners of education- professionals who went through long years of academic and practical training- amounts to less than the family living wage," the explanatory note read, as per GMA News.
"No wonder most teachers would rather work abroad despite the risks and hazards to earn almost thrice or eight times the entry-level salary."
Outgoing ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro proposed a similar measure in February 2024.
According to the House of Representatives, incoming lawmakers began the 20th Congress by filing a total of 666 House bills and 16 resolutions.
On June 30, the Department of Labor and Employment announced that minimum wage earners in the National Capital Region will receive a P50 pay hike. However, groups slammed this, saying it "barely makes a dent in the poverty faced by workers."
The 19th Congress adjourned sine die without ratifying House Bill No. 11376 proposing a P200 daily increase. The Senate, meanwhile, proposed a P100 hike.
