Passage of important bills for teachers sought

MANILA, Philippines - In celebration of World Teacher’s Day, senators yesterday called for the immediate approval of important bills that seek to promote the welfare of teachers.

Sen. Loren Legarda has filed four measures including the Senate Bill 1397, the Philippine Teachers’ Hospital Act seeking to establish a special hospital for teachers and their dependents.

Senate Bill 10, the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, seeks to provide security of tenure to teachers, just compensation, non-wage benefits, and continuous training.

Senate Bill 1429 aims to regionalize the payroll system of the Department of Education.

Senate Resolution No. 3 aims to increase the compensation of soldiers, police, teachers and nurses.

Detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV pushed a bill that the present minimum salary grade level of public school teachers in elementary and secondary schools be adjusted to Grade 20 from Grade 10.

If Senate Bill No. 176 is approved, this means that public school teachers would be receiving P29,052 per month from the current basic salary of P8,600.

Since they are looked upon and heralded as molders of our youth and prime movers of the education system, there is an imperative and indispensable necessity to upgrade the salary levels of our public school teachers, Trillanes said.

Under the Trillanes proposal, the Department of Education is tasked to draw up a specific programmed budget to cover the expenses for the upgrading of salary levels of all teacher plantilla positions over the next three years.

Legarda said there is an estimated 500,000 public school teachers nationwide who seek adequate remuneration.

They demand that from the current Salary Grade 11 they would be elevated to Salary Grade 15 and be provided with non-wage benefits, most importantly, medical benefits.

Legarda said that for the year 2011, the Department of Education submitted a proposed budget of P 207.271 billion, of which only P 862 million would be allotted for human resources training and development, including scholarship and fellowship grants to teachers.

“Let us reaffirm our support to our teachers and other non-teaching personnel in the education sector in their continuous quest for proper recognition that goes beyond lip service. Let us give them the benefits long due them, which they rightly deserve, ” Legarda said.