Marcos signs law giving public school teachers more allowance
President Ferdinand R. Marcos signs into law the Republic Act 11997 or "Kabalikat Sa Pagtuturo Act" during a ceremonial signing at Malacañan Palace in Manila on Monday, 3 June 2024. Standing as witnesses are Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Special Assistant to the President Antonio Lagdameo Jr., Senate President Francis Escudero, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, House Deputy Speaker Dong Gonzales, Senate Majority Leader Francis 'Tol' Tolentino, House Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe, among other members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
PPA POOL / Noel B. Pabalate
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law on Monday a measure aiming to provide Filipino teachers with an annual teaching supply allowance of up to P10,000.
Under Republic Act No. 11997, also known as the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act, public school instructors under the basic education curriculum would receive P5,000 in teaching allowance for the forthcoming school year 2024–2025.
The allowance will then increase to P10,000 starting with the 2025–2026 school year and will stay the same for the next academic year.
The teachers will be able to take home the allowance in full as the bill expressly excludes income tax from the teaching allowance.
During his speech, Marcos stated that the law is a crucial component of the Matatag curriculum since it frees up instructors to focus on teaching their learners without having to worry about their money.
“Today, thanks to the hard work of our legislators, we get to receive the much-needed assistance for the Matatag agenda, and the fourth component of that. That is to give support to teachers so they can concentrate on teaching,” Marcos said.
“With the passage of this law, we are easing some of the burden that you (teachers) carry each day. I think we are all familiar with the situation where, when a teacher finds themselves in financial straits, they are sometimes distracted and spend their time trying to increase the support they can provide their families,” he added.
There are 13 principal authors of the bill in the Senate and 115 in the House.
Senators Bong Revilla, Robin Padilla, Sonny Angara, and Bong Go filed the bill first, aside from France Castro, Arlene Brosas, Raoul Manuel, and Emigdio Tanjuatco in the House of Representatives.
According to a brief check on the House website, former ACT Teachers representative Antonio Tinio introduced the bill as early as 2011.
The starting monthly compensation of Filipino teachers is P27,000, a salary that has long been pushed for by various groups. The family living wage in Metro Manila for a household of five is P1,192 per day, or P35,760 per month, according to think tank IBON Foundation.