SENATE President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Wednesday said that the government can well afford the gradual tripling of the annual Teaching Supplies Allowance (TSA) of teachers.

He said that the bill passed by the Senate mandating an increase is ‘fiscally-responsible’.

“Any contention that the government can’t afford it doesn’t fly in the face of facts. Kayang-kaya,” Recto, one of the authors of the bill, said.

The measure seeks to increase the chalk allowance of teachers to P5,000 a year in school years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. By school year 2023-2024, the allowance will be at P7,500 and it will increase again to P10,000 beginning school year 2024-2025.

“At present, the annual TSA is P3,500 per classroom teacher, or about P16 a day, not enough for bond paper and internet load — which many teachers are forced to buy with their own money,” Recto said.

The senator said for next year, the government will need P4.3 billion for 876, 898 teachers.

“Ang idadagdag lang natin ay P1.3 billion, to what we are currently spending for TSA, pero ang laki ng pakinabang. Overall, mga 0.8 percent ang TSA ng total DepEd budget, or 80 centavos per 100 pesos,” he explained.

“Pagsapit naman ng 2023, na P7,500 na ang TSA, ang total cost ay P6.57 billion. Ito ay 1.1 percent lang ng forecast budget ng DepEd sa taong iyon,” he said.

By 2024, the government will have to allot P8.8 billion for TSA.

Recto described the TSA as a pandemic-hit expense because blended learning is more expensive. He said distance and digital teaching have added costs.

“For example, DepEd has to print at least 100 billion pages of learning modules and broadband is not free,” he pointed out.

The senator likened teaching supplies used by teachers to bullets used by soldiers in their battle against the Abu Sayyaf.

“’Yung bala na gamit ng mga sundalo, libre, pero bakit ang ammo na gamit ng mga guro hindi sapat?” Recto said.