Senate bill granting marked pay hike for teachers pushed

A neophyte senator batted yesterday for the passage of his measure seeking to double the minimum salary of public school teachers in elementary and secondary schools.

Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara urged his colleagues to prioritize the passage of Senate Bill (SB) No. 61 that intends to upgrade the salary grade (SG) level of teachers from SG 11 to 19.

The proposal seeks to double the salary of public school teachers from its current monthly base pay of to

“I urge my colleagues here in the Senate to hear the sentiments of our teachers and immediately act on the pending bills seeking to increase the salaries of public school teachers,” Angara said.

“Public school teachers are the heart of the Philippine public school system but they are among the most underpaid workers given their workload and service in the society. They receive a basic salary that does not commensurate to their contribution,” he added.

The public school teachers have been asking for a monthly salary of

from the current rate of more than

Led by the militant Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), they have threatened to take a mass leave if the government fails to act on their requests

Angara, former Aurora representative, said once passed, SB 61 seeks to provide financial relief to the 3.2 million deserving public school teachers.

“I have authored this measure since my time in the Lower House and I will continue to file this in the Senate as one of my top priority bills. The Constitution guarantees a living wage and they deserve more than what they presently get,” he said.