Senate OKs bill increasing teaching allowance to up to P10K on 2nd reading

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate on Tuesday approved on second reading a bill seeking the staggered increase of teaching supplies allowance of public school teachers to up to P10,000 by 2024.

During the plenary session, senators agreed to “progressively” increase the teaching allowance starting 2021 so that the state’s coffers could “bear” the additional cost.

“We recognize the need of our teachers to have this allowance because of the changes in the nature of their functions as a result of the pandemic, they may need more funds than the 5,000 being proposed,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said.

“But given the reality that we face today with tax collections being down, we should consider spreading out the proposed increase,” he added.

Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., the bill’s sponsor, agreed with Drilon, saying the government “cannot afford a drastic increase in the cash allowance” for teachers.

“So ang pwede lang po talaga is about P1,500 [for next year] and it’s going to be progressive,” he added.

For the current school year (S.Y.), the allowance to be given to each public school teacher is P3,500.

Under Senate Bill 1092, the staggered increase in the allowance of public school teachers are as follows:

S. Y. 2021-2022 – P5,000

S. Y. 2022-2023 – P,5000

S. Y. 2023-2024 – P7,500

S. Y. 2024-2025 – P10,000

According to the measure, the funding for the said allowance will be “charged against the current appropriations” of the Department of Education.[ac]