Gatchalian, Legarda bat for teachers' pay hike; Roque urges voters to choose legislators with 'mastery of law'

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday expressed intention to increase the salary of teachers to uplift their morale as well as to motivate more students to join the country’s teaching force.

Gatchalian, a reelectionist for the May 2022 national elections, said he is proposing to raise the salary grade of Teacher I from Salary Grade 11 to either Salary Grade 13 or 14.

"Ang guro po ang pinakamahalagang sangkap pagdating sa sektor ng edukasyon dahil direkta silang nagbibigay ng kaalaman sa ating mga mag-aaral. Importante na nasusuportahan natin ang kanilang mga pangangailangan at napapangalagaan ang kanilang kapakanan," Gatchalian said.

(The teachers are considered as the most important in our education sector because they directly impart knowledge and wisdom to students. It's important that we support them with their needs and we empower their welfare.)

Gatchalian said the salary of a Teacher I position or Salary Grade 11 is at P25,439 under the third tranche of the Salary Standardization Law V. He said if the salary grade of Teacher I is raised to Salary Grade 13 under the current tranche, the starting pay would be equivalent to P29,798.

Antique Representative Loren Legarda, who is also eyeing a Senate seat, expressed her support to all teachers who are seeking right compensation for teaching overload and overtime pay, particularly this year, as, according to her, it was not included in the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Legarda vowed to coordinate with the Department of Education (DepEd) to ensure that the efforts of teachers beyond their mandate are well compensated.

For the lawmaker, improving the education system would not only mean having good infrastructure and facilities for school children but also addressing the needs of teachers and non-teaching personnel.

“Aside from their teaching duties, teachers are likewise most reliable in serving the general welfare. They go beyond their duties in the classroom, notably when they serve during election period and when they aid the Philippine Statistics Authority in gathering data from households across the country,” Legarda said.

“Amid the pandemic, preparation of self-learning modules for students, aside from adjusting to the blended learning system, ensuring compliance to their reportorial requirement, and attending to various online trainings, while facilitating the extended Brigada Eskwela, Oplan Balik Eskwela, enrolment, and other related activities, were added to their tasks,” she added.

Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, said this would require an additional P58.6 billion on top of the P379.6 billion annual compensation of Teachers I, II, and III.

Meanwhile, senatorial aspirant and former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque encouraged Filipino voters to choose and vote aspiring lawmakers who possess a mastery of the law and who could build consensus in a collegial body.

He said this is “a combination of knowledge power and convincing prowess to successfully pass a law that has national significance.”

Roque, a human rights lawyer, appealed to the public to weigh in on one candidate’s capacity to enact laws that would be beneficial to the public.

“I encourage the electorate to vote for legislators who have demonstrated a keen understanding of how Philippine laws and jurisprudence work to advance the national interest,” Roque said in a press release.

"The Congress is the supreme policy-making body in our land. Ideally, we need lawmakers who are well-versed on legislative processes, as well as domestic and international laws,” he added.

Roque further advised aspiring lawmakers to improve their education in public administration and government management to craft laws that are genuinely responsive to their constituents’ needs and aspirations.

Gatchalian, Legarda and Roque's candidacies are being endorsed by the tandem of former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.  —KBK, GMA News