ACT-Teachers Rep. France Castro of the militant Makabayan bloc has filed a total of 39 House bills (HB) and one House Joint Resolution (HJR) since June 30.

Castro kicked off the 19th Congress with a slew of measures that included an attempt to revive the shuttered television and radio giant ABS-CBN via the granting of a legislative franchise.

File on Tuesday, June 5, was HB 1218 or the proposed Act renewing the franchise granted to ABS-CBN Corporation (formerly ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation) under RA No. 7966 also known as Granting ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation a franchise to construct; install, establish, operate, and maintain broadcasting stations in the Philippines, and for other purposes” for Twenty-Five (25) Years.

The popular network’s previous operating franchise expired on May 5, 2020. A few months later, ABS-CBN’s congressional application for a new 25-year franchise was junked by House members allied with then-President Rodrigo Duterte.

During the House hearings on its franchise application two years ago, ABS-CBN said it had a total of 11,071 employees as of December 2019.

It remains to be seen if such bill would gain traction among solons under the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

Castro also filed on Tuesday HB 1219 or the proposed Act reorganizing the field offices of the Commission on Elections by upgrading and creating certain positions, amending for the purpose Section 53 of Batas Pambansa 881, otherwise known as the Omnibus Election Code, as amended, and providing funds therefor.

Also lodged before the House was HB 1220 or the proposed Act requiring public officials and employees to execute a written permission to examine, inquire or look into their bank deposits, amending for the purpose Republic Act No. 6713 (RA 6713) or the Act Establishing a Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and for other Purposes

Here is a list of all the measures filed by the teacher-lawmaker since June 30:

HB 203 - Upgrading the Salary Levels of Public School Teachers to Salary Grade 15 and Teaching Personnel in Higher Education to Salary Grade 16, and Increasing the Salaries of Non-Teaching Personnel to P16,000

HB 204 - Providing for Security of Tenure and Granting Substitute Civil Service Eligibility for all Non-Regular and Regular Employees of the Government Who Have Rendered at Least Six (6) Months of Continuous Service

HB 205 - Providing for a Medical Examination and Treatment Allowance for Public School Teachers and Appropriating Funds Therefor

HB 206 - Lowering the Optional Retirement Age of Government Workers from Sixty (60) years to Fifty-Six (56) years, Amending for the Purpose Section 13-A of Republic Act (RA) 8291, Otherwise known as “The Government Service Insurance System Act of 1997”

HB 207 - Mandating the Inclusion of Philippine History as a Subject in the High School Curriculum

HB 208 - Providing for a Free, Comprehensive, and Progressive, National Public Health Care System

HB 209 - Strengthening the Right of the People to Free Expression, to Peaceably Assemble and to Petition the Government for Redress of Grievances, Repealing for the Purpose Batas Pambansa Blg. 880 or the “Public Assembly Act of 1985”

HB 210 - Providing for Transparent Alternative Manual Automation Election System for Philippine Elections and for Other Purposes

HB 211 - to Ensure that the Party-List System is Reserved for the Marginalized and Underrepresented Amending for that Purpose RA 7941, Otherwise Known as the “Party-List System Act”

HB 545 -The Magna Carta of Public School Teachers

HB 546 -The Magna Carta of Private School Teachers

HB 547 - Providing for a Teaching Supplies Allowance for Public School Teachers and Appropriating Funds Therefor

HB 548 - Regulating Class Size in all Public Schools and Appropriating Funds Therefor

HB 549 - Institutionalizing Support Mechanisms and Protection for Public School Teachers and Personnel in Matters of Student Discipline for Classroom Management

HB 550 - Strengthening the Constitutional Rights of Government Employees to Self-Organization, Collective Bargaining and Negotiation and Peaceful Concerted Activities and Use of Voluntary Modes of Dispute Settlement

HB 551 - Increasing the Social Pension of Indigent Senior Citizens and Appropriating Funds Therefor, Amending for the Purpose RA No. 7432 Entitled, " to Maximize the Contribution of Senior Citizens to Nation Building, Grant Benefits and Special Privileges and for Other Purposes," as Amended

HB 552 - Strengthening the People's Right to Information

HB 553 - Increasing the Personnel Economic Relief Allowance Granted to Government Employees to Five Thousand (P5,000) and Appropriating Funds Therefor

HB 554 - Providing Sick Leave Benefits of Fifteen Days with Pay per Year to all Public School Teachers

HB 558 - Expanding the Purpose and Application of the Special Education Fund, Amending for the Purpose Section 272 of RA 7160, Otherwise Known as the "Local Government Code of 1991"

HB 559 - Granting Free Post-Graduate Education to Public and Private School Teachers in State Colleges and Universities and Local Universities and Colleges and Providing Funds Therefor

HB 560 - Providing for a Monthly Internet Allowance for All Public School Teachers and Appropriating Funds Therefor

HB 561 - Recognizing the Annual Observance of World Education Support Personnel Day, Declaring for the Purpose the Sixteenth Day of May of Every Year as National Education Support Personnel Day in the Philippines

HB 562 - Increasing the Minimum Salaries of Private School Teachers to P30,000 per Month

HB 563 - Providing for the Period of Probationary Employment of Teaching and Non-Teaching Personnel in Private Schools, Thereby Amending for the Purpose Presidential Decree 442 or the Labor Code, as Amended

HB 564 - Batas na Nagtatakda ng Hindi Bababa sa Siyam (9) na Yunit ng Asignaturang Filipino at Tatlong Yunit (3) ng Asignaturang Panitikan sa Kurikulum ng Kolehiyo (Requiring Filipino Subjects to Have at Least Nine Units and Literature Subjects to Have at Least Three Units in College Curriculums)

HB 565 - Ensuring Weekends as Days of Rest for Public and Private School Teachers by Providing for Their Right to Conduct Meetings, Conferences, Trainings, and Similar Activities During Weekdays, Amending for the Purpose RA 4461

HB 566 - Providing for Expanded Paternity Leave Benefits, Amending RA 8187, Otherwise Known as the "Paternity Leave Act of 1996"

HB 567 - Repealing RA 10912, Otherwise Known as the "Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016”

HB 568 - Reversing Regressive and Anti-Poor Taxation, Repealing for the Purpose Certain Sections of RA No. 10963 Otherwise Known as Tax Reform For Acceleration and Inclusion Act

HB 569 - Amending RA 10175, Otherwise Known as the "Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012"

HB 570 - Creating Programs for Incarcerated Parents and their Children

HB 571 - Withholding Operational Funds of Units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Implicated in Gross Human Rights Violations

HB 572 - Exempting Journalists From Acting as Anti-Drug Operations Witnesses and Amending RA 10640, Entitled " to Further Strengthen the Anti Drug Campaign of the Government," Amending for the Purpose Section 21 of RA 9165, Otherwise Known as the "Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002"

HB 573 - Amending Section 8 Of RA 6426, Otherwise known as the "Foreign Currency Deposit Act of the Philippines"

HB 574 - Institutionalizing the Use of the Bicycle as a Regular Mode of Transportation, Defining the Rights of Bicycle Riders, Establishing Appropriate Infrastructure and Facilities, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and for other purposes

HJR 1 - Joint Resolution Mandating the Implementation of the Second Tranche of the Social Security Pension Increase Effective January 1, 2022 to Cushion the Impact of New Taxes and Rising Prices of Goods and Service, and to Provide Social Protection to Pensioners