(MANILA BULLETIN)

Here's some good news for public school teachers. 

Makati City 2nd district Rep. Luis Campos Jr. says more than 912,000 public school teachers employed by the Department of Education (DepEd) are set to receive their P1,000 World Teachers’ Day Incentive Benefit (WTDIB) on Oct. 5. 

“Congress earmarked the sum of P912 million to fund the WTDIB at P1,000 per public school teacher, payable on Oct. 5. This allocation is itemized in the 2024 General Appropriations Law,” Campos said in a statement on Thursday, Oct. 3. 

“We are determined to sustain the annual funding for the WTDIB for our teachers. In fact, the 2025 national budget we approved last month includes another P955 million allocation for this benefit,” said Campos, a vice chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations. 

The WTDIB is currently provided to public school teachers every Oct. 5--a day celebrated annually as World Teachers’ Day--to honor those engaged in the teaching profession. 

Congress first included the incentive as an item in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2019, with an initial funding of P800 million. 

Campos has been advocating for the passage of his House Bill (HB) No. 7840, which seeks to raise the WTDIB to P3,000 per teacher. 

“We must augment the value of the WTDIB and make the grant of this incentive permanent through legislation,” emphasized the veteran lawmaker. 

Meanwhile, Campos also assured public school teachers that Congress is “absolutely committed” to providing new appropriations for their P10,000 annual teaching allowance. 

President Marcos signed into law last June the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Law, or Republic Act No. 11997. This law provides a yearly P10,000 teaching allowance to public school teachers in the basic education curriculum, beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. 

The amount is double the P5,000 that teachers currently receive as their annual teaching allowance.