Senate approves resolution commending Filipino teachers
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate has approved a resolution recognizing Filipino teachers "for their hard work and commitment to shaping learners of all generations," according to a press release on the Senate's official website on Tuesday.
Resolution No. 142 filed by Sen. Bong Revilla was based on two presidential proclamations which led to the declaration of September 5 to October 5 as National Teachers' Month yearly.
"Revilla believes that Filipino teachers take on an indispensable role in molding the country's future. Thus, he called on all Filipinos to use the occasion to pay tribute to [their] indelible contribution," the press release said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Joel Villanueva took to his Facebook and Instagram accounts to celebrate the resolution's approval, writing, "I am actually a product of 2 great public school teachers, my mom and dad."
Villanueva said in July that his office intended to explore the president's earlier call to include teachers in the next Salary Standardization Law (SSL).
"Teachers play a critical role in shaping the hearts and minds of our youth. We need to make their efforts more rewarding so that they are kept motivated to fulfill their duties," he said.
Revilla's Senate Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation on September 11 discussed "concrete steps to take towards the realization and implementation of the salary increase for teachers," according to a separate press release.
During the 18th Congress, Sens. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Francis Pangilinan and Nancy Binay all filed similar bills, proposing salaries of P36,409 monthly, an additional P10,000 a month, and P28,000 monthly, respectively.
"Among the bills that we authored are the bills lowering the optional retirement age of public school teachers from 60 to 55; a bill giving them additional benefits such as grocery, transportation and medical allowance, among others," Villanueva said in the same post.
One of President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign promises in 2016 was the doubling of salaries for public school teachers. Since then, numerous teacher groups have been calling for salary increases after various pay hikes for uniformed personnel including soldiers and police officers.
The clamor from the aforementioned teachers' groups hit a peak in August when the Commission on Audit found that the Department of Education had racked up P13.9 billion of unexplained expenses lacking documentation along with P2.7 billion in unliquidated cash advances in 2018.
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