By Vanne Elaine Terrazola

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Friday that the Senate will prioritize measures seeking to increase the salaries and benefits of Filipino public school teachers.

In a statement issued amid the celebration of the National and World Teacher’s Day, Zubiri vowed to push in the Upper Chamber the proposals for the raise in the wages and grants given to teachers.

“I shall push for pay hikes and direct grants to teachers and prioritize the bills filed in the Senate,” the Senate leader said.

“Our teachers deserve more than we have managed to give them such as salary increases in line with the Salary Standardization Law in 2015 mandating a series of increases in four years that ends this year. Government has promised to institute another round of government pay hikes. We will initiate the push for pay hikes in the Senate,” he added.

Zubiri said the Senate is looking at upgrading the salary grade (SG) level of public school teachers by setting the wage of entry-level teachers in SG 19 from the current SG 11, as proposed by Sen. Sonny Angara in his bill.

He added that they may also consider the additional P10,000 compensation a month being proposed by Sen. Francis Pangilinan.

If President Duterte would pursue his promise of doubling public school teacher salaries, Zubiri said the Senate will help in finding sources of funds.

Zubiri said this would require an additional P343.7 billion in the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Under the P551.7-billion proposed 2020 budget of the DepED, teachers’ salaries were allotted with P417.5 billion, Zubiri said.

“By paying our teachers bigger salaries, we shall graduate from our sad reputation in the past as an ‘exporter’ of teachers. They will now have a strong reason to stay as teachers in the country and not leave their families,” he said.

The Palace earlier assured public school teachers that the Duterte administration will not default on its promise to increase the teachers’ salaries.

Senator Pia Cayetano, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, on Friday pressed for the passage of a bill increasing teachers’ pay, as she stressed that raising the salaries of teachers is the best way to affirm the dignity of the teaching profession.

She said raising the compensation of teachers is the best affirmation of the government’s high regard for the country’s educators and their contributions to nation-building.

A staunch education advocate, Cayetano authored Senate Bill No. 70, the “Additional Support and Compensation for Educators in Basic Education Act.”

The measure proposes a salary increase of P10,000 per month for public school teachers, locally-funded teachers, and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd).

“Raising the compensation of teachers affirms the dignity of the teaching profession. This will not only improve their lives, but also inspire them to further improve,” Cayetano explained.

Under the bill, the salary hike shall be granted over three years in three tranches, starting with a P4,000 monthly pay hike on the first year.

The bill also seeks an additional P3,000 per month on the second year, and a final increment of P3,000 per month on the third year.

READ MORE: Raising teachers’ pay helps affirm dignity of teaching -Cayetano