BY PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA – Good news to public school teachers.
A proposed measure has been filed in the House of Representatives seeking to raise the monthly salary of public school teachers from P18,549 to P24,887.
“Salaries of public school teachers do not compare favorably with other occupations in government,” said Las Piñas’ Rep. Mark Villar in filing House Bill 4616.
Villar said the salary of a high school graduate who joins the Philippine Military Academy as a cadet is higher than a regular school teacher.
A cadet receives a monthly allowance of P21,709, shared the son of Sen. Cynthia Villar.
Even business process outsourcing workers are paid more than a licensed professional teacher, Villar lamented.
“To cope with this living salary gap, teachers resort to borrowing and are heavily indebted to government financial institutions such as the Government Service Insurance System, or loan sharks,” Villar said.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara introduced the same measure in the Senate.
But his Senate Bill 61 seeks to increase teachers’ salary to P33,859.
“With this increase in salaries, more qualified and competent educators will be attracted to teach in public schools. Having inspired, capable teachers is probably one of the best investments our government could make,” said Angara./PN
