It's only right for Congress to craft laws that would benefit the country’s "heroic" teachers.
Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte made this declaration in House Bill (HB) No.456, or the proposed Act granting hardship allowance to teachers assigned in remote areas and providing for other measures for their protection.
“Teachers go to extreme lengths for their students, and it is only appropriate that we establish necessary measures to recognize their heroic deeds,” Duterte said in HB 456, as per a statement released by his office on the occasion of World Teacher's Day Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Under HB 456, the hardship 8allowance shall be equivalent to double the total expenses that the teacher will incur every month in additional public transportation from the nearest capital town or urban center where he or she is assigned.
In the event that the teacher assigned to a far-flung barrio would need to stay in a temporary housing facility, the head of the barangay in that area is mandated to secure suitable and safe housing for the teacher, the bill said.
Another pro-teachers bill filed by Duterte was HB No.3542, which seeks to provide communications and Internet data allowance to both public and private school teachers in the basic education sector during times of public health emergencies, calamities and other occurrences that would result in the prolonged closure of schools and other learning institutions.
“In addition to the pursuit of increasing internet speeds in the country is the assurance that among its main users, the teachers, could afford it. And only through the grant of this monetary assistance that they would surely be able to do so,” Duterte said of the proposed Act providing communication and data accessibility and allowance to all basic education teachers during public health emergency and other analogous cases.
On top of communications and data allowances, the Mindanaoan also proposed under the same bill that DepEd, in coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), would provide public and private school teachers with computers and other similar “technologically appropriate” devices.
This is necessary as the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated how alternative modes of learning need to be incorporated into the country’s educational system to ensure continued access to education, Duterte reckoned.
It says under HB No.3542 that the DepEd, in coordination with the DICT, shall determine the time of execution and amount of broadband data needed for the full implementation of blende8d or distance learning modes during times of public health emergencies and other analogous cases.
Benguet lone district Rep. Eric Go Yap served as Duterte's co-author for the two measures.
Another majority solon in the House, Quezon City 5th district Rep. PM Vargas, recently filed HB No.4070, which aims to adjust the minimum salary grade level of public school teachers from Salary Grade (SG) 11 currently pegged at P25,439 to SG 19 pegged at P49,835.
“With the rising costs of living, many teachers still struggle with the financial limitations of their profession while maintaining the delivery of quality education to our students amid the pandemic,” Vargas said.