A bill seeking to increase the minimum salary of educators in higher level education in both state and local universities and colleges was filed at the House of Representatives this Tuesday.
Introduced by members of the Makabayan bloc, House Bill 8965 sought to establish a P50,000 per month payroll for teachers, inclined to cater to the constitutional mandate of prioritizing and making quality education accessible for all the country’s citizens.
“This bill seeks to address the substantial salary gaps between instructors and professors in [state universities and colleges] and [local universities and colleges] on one hand and persons in comparable occupations or with similar qualifications here and abroad on the other,” the legislative proposal read.
It further noted that the proposed measure was aimed at providing teachers with a “decent and dignified” living standard amid the costly financial strain that they absorb in their daily service to students.
The demands of the said bill were also said to be in consideration of the wider public call to have a substantial salary bump in the private sector to a national minimum wage of P1,200 per day.
As it currently stands, the entry level salary for public teachers is set at P30,000 under Salary Grade 11 that was promulgated in 2024.
Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), who were present at the filing of the bill together with ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, had previously called on Education Secretary Sonny Angara to explore the proposed salary increase.
Ruby Bernardo, Chairperson of ACT, noted that teachers were unfairly compensated for the work that they conducted on a daily basis, citing their strenuous workloads and responsibilities as crucial building blocks for the nation.
“Our compensation remains far from commensurate with our contribution, while salary distortion within the bureaucracy persists to our disadvantage,” Bernardo said.