The government, under the Marcos administration, has promoted 2,915 public school teachers from National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila under fast-tracked career reforms.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Thursday led the recognition of public school educators as he witnessed the oath-taking of newly promoted teachers and school leaders from NCR, highlighting the administration’s push to fast-track long-delayed career progression in the education sector.

“As you take your oath today, you are renewing the promise that you have made to our children and to our nation because you carry a big responsibility every single day inside the classrooms and always extending way beyond school hours,” Marcos said in his speech during the oath-taking ceremony held at the Makati Coliseum in Makati City.

“As your public servant, I believe that our fight to build a better government begins through education and through the people who mold the minds of our youth," the president added.

The ceremony formally marked the promotion of educators to higher career stages, covering Teacher III to VII, Master Teacher II to V, and Principal II to IV positions. Education Secretary Sonny Angara administered the oath, with the President personally witnessing the pledge of service, alongside Makati City Mayor Nancy Binay and senior officials of the Department of Education.

“Sa ilalim ng administrasyon ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos, inuuna natin ang guro—hindi lang sa salita, kundi sa malinaw na reporma na nagbibigay ng dignidad, pag-angat, at kinabukasan sa propesyon ng pagtuturo,” Angara said.

The promotions were carried out through a fast-tracked process that combined appointments to natural vacancies and position reclassification under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) framework, allowing the Department to immediately address long-standing promotion backlogs across NCR divisions.

Of the 2,915 promoted personnel, 2,186 advanced through natural vacancies, while 729 were promoted through ECP reclassification, reflecting a dual-track approach that enabled qualified educators to move up based on merit and readiness, without being constrained solely by vacant plantilla positions.

The promotions are anchored on Republic Act No. 12288, or the Career Progression for Public School Teachers and School Leaders Act of 2025, a landmark reform signed under the Marcos administration. The law establishes a structured, competency-based career system with parallel tracks for classroom teaching and school administration, providing equivalent salaries and benefits while ensuring that no educator suffers a reduction in existing compensation.

DepEd noted that the use of both natural vacancy appointments and ECP reclassification allowed divisions to respond to differing staffing conditions and readiness levels, while maintaining the integrity of the government’s personnel system.

The agency emphasized that promotions are anchored on the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers, ensuring that advancement is tied to competence, performance, and professional growth. By allowing educators to progress while remaining in the classroom, DepEd said the reform helps retain expert teachers, raise morale, and strengthen learning outcomes for students.

The NCR oath-taking follows a similar ceremony held in Ilocos Region last January, where 789 teachers took their oath for promotion, underscoring the nationwide scale and momentum of the reform.

Held under DepEd NCR’s guiding principle of RISE—Resilience, Integrity, Service, and Excellence, the ceremony reaffirmed the expanded responsibility of teachers and school heads as frontline leaders of education reform, with the President himself standing witness to their renewed commitment to learners and the nation.

"This program of President Bongbong is the fastest promotion and increase of the rank of our teachers because we can see that there are other teachers who have been here for a decade, more than a decade who were not only promoted from Teacher 1, the one we saw in the last 20 years, he was not promoted," Angara said in an ambush interview.

"The advantage of the Expanded Career Progression is that every promotion, the salary of the teacher will also increase. So, it's not only rank, but it also has benefits. And this is the real recognition in the service of our teachers," the DepEd chief added.

For this year, the government is targetting to promote at least 100,000 public school teachers, according to Angara.

Angara also said that, regardless of qualifications, even if the teachers doesn't have a master's degreenor Ph.D, they will also be promoted as long as they've been in the service for a long time.

"Yes, they will still be promoted. But if they already have a master's degree, they will need a master's degree because that's the requirement of the Civil Service Commission," he said.

Teacher Eloisa Cruz who teaches Grade 8 at the Eusebio National High School in Pasig City, expressed her gratitude to President Marcos as she was given the opportunity to be promoted–from Teacher 1 to Teacher 3.

"I'm very much grateful because I missed my education. I should have studied to level up. But since I was given a chance, it's a very big opportunity for me," Cruz said.