ACT presses Angara: Push ₱50,000 entry-level pay for teachers

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers Philippines (ACT) on Friday urged the Department of Education and Education Secretary Sonny Angara to actively push for a P50,000 entry-level salary for teachers, saying loan relief measures alone will not address the deepening financial strain faced by educators.

ACT made the call after DepEd relayed to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) the request of teachers for a more flexible and longer-term loan arrangements, which the group welcomed as a step toward easing immediate financial pressures on education workers.

However, ACT said sustainable teacher welfare ultimately hinges on a substantial salary increase, beginning with a P50,000 entry-level pay for public school teachers.

ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo said the group welcomed DepEd’s engagement with the BSP, particularly Angara’s acknowledgment that teachers’ financial well-being is closely tied to education quality.

“This recognition is crucial and correct. When teachers are financially secure, the quality of public education improves. This is especially urgent now, as the learning crisis has reached critical levels,” Bernardo said.

ACT stressed that this shared understanding should translate into concrete policy advocacy, with DepEd and Angara bringing the issue directly to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and other key government officials.

The group said Angara has previously engaged ACT in dialogue and has expressed support for the P50,000 entry-level pay proposal, indicating convergence on the view that low salaries lie at the heart of teachers’ financial difficulties.

“These engagements show convergence in recognizing that teachers’ low pay lies at the heart of their financial difficulties,” ACT said.

ACT also recalled that during his two terms as senator, Angara filed measures seeking to raise teachers’ salaries by upgrading the minimum salary grade from Salary Grade 11 to Salary Grade 19, arguing that the rationale behind those proposals remains relevant.

“Teachers continue to be among the most underpaid workers in the country despite their expanding workload, mounting responsibilities, and central role in nation-building,” Bernardo said.

“Our compensation remains far from commensurate with our contribution, while salary distortion within the bureaucracy persists to our disadvantage,” she added.

ACT expressed disappointment that none of the 114 policy recommendations across 28 priority areas in the Final Report of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) called for a meaningful salary increase for teachers. 

The group noted that even EDCOM I in 1991 had recommended upgrading teachers’ minimum salary grade to Salary Grade 17 and argued that funding higher teacher pay is fiscally feasible, rejecting claims that such demands are too costly.

“This is a matter of priorities—of valuing educators and the public workforce over corrupt political dynasties, entitled legislators, favored contractors, and bureaucrat capitalists,” she added.

ACT reiterated its broader wage demands, including a P50,000 entry-level salary for teachers, a P36,000 minimum salary for Salary Grade 1 government employees, Salary Grade 16 for Instructor I positions, and standardized salaries for private school teachers at par with their public school counterparts.

GMA News Online has sought comment from the Department of Education and will publish it once available. —AOL, GMA Integrated News