ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro refiled a measure that seeks to upgrade the salary of teachers.

Castro said House BIll 203 is her priority measure in the 19th Congress.

The bill aims to upgrade the salary grade of teacher 1 position from salary grade 11 to 15.

It also seeks to increase the basic salary of non-teaching personnel to P16,000.

“This adjustment addresses the injustice to teachers who have been left behind by other professions with similar qualifications such as nurses,” Castro said.

She said that the latest pay adjustment through the Salary Standardization Law 5 did not address the disparity between  the salaries of those in the low- and middle-level salary grades who comprise the majority of the civil service and those in the managerial levels and especially top level officials.

“Teachers will still not be better off than the police and soldiers in uniform, whose salaries the Duterte administration increased by 50% to 100%. Teachers are education frontliners who have been the backbone of the continuing education amid the 2-year blended distance learning of the Department of Education with minimal support from the government,” Castro said.

She added that the increases from SSL 5 will quickly be eaten away by excise taxes and inflation, especially those brought by the TRAIN Law and the fuel price hikes.

“Napag-iwanan na ang suweldo ng ating mga guro kumpara sa mga nurse, pulis at militar pero tambak din sila ng trabaho sa loob at labas ng kanilang mga klasrum,” Castro said.