Villafuerte bats for passage of these 2 pro-teacher bills ahead of Labor Day
Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte (Facebook)
Ahead of the celebration of Labor Day on May 1, Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte urged the House of Representatives to pass two bills that would make life easier for public school teachers. “I am likewise hoping that the House could give priority attention after the break to a measure bumping up the salaries and making permanent an allowance for the teaching supplies of our 800,000 public schoolteachers,” he said in a statement Sunday, April 30. Villafuerte, majority leader of the powerful Commission on Appointments (CA), was referring to House Bill (HB) Nos. 1851 and 1849. HB No.1851 proposes a significant increase in the salary grade level of public elementary and high school teachers from Grade 11 to Grade 19 amid the non-stop rise in the cost of living. On the other hand, HB No. 1849 seeks to make permanent the school supply allowance of P5,000 that public school teachers have been entitled to during the Covid-19 pandemic. It further provides for a continuous increase in the allowance every year. Villafuerte wants the lower chamber to approve the bills once sessions resume on May 8. “Despite their heavy workload and essential role as agents of constructive intellectual, social, cultural, political and moral change in our society, our public school teachers are among the most underpaid workers in the country," he said. “Increasing their takehome pay and providing for a permanent teaching supplies allowance with a provision for a steady bump per school year will hopefully incentivize them to strive for excellence in their field and make teaching a more attractive profession for our students,” added the Bicolano.