SENATOR Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. defended Senate Bill 1964 or the proposed Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act which seeks to make permanent the Teaching Supplies Allowance for public school teachers.

The senator said that the government can afford the P4.4 billion needed for the purpose.

The measure aims to institutionalize the Teaching Supplies Allowance, more popularly known as “chalk allowance.”

Under the bill, teachers will receive P7,500 TSA in 2024 and P10,000 beginning 2025.

“We need to institutionalize the allowance kasi kapag hindi natin ito ginawan ng batas, pwedeng tanggalin ito kung sino man, yung halimbawa na uupo diyan, at any given time they could take it out,” Revilla said.

Currently, the allowance is provided by mere special provision in the General Appropriations Act, under the annual budget of the Department of Education, with teachers receiving P5,000.

Revilla said he talked to Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and was able to get her support for the measure.

“Yung hinihiling po natin para sa kanila ay less than 1% of the total budget na allocated sa DepEd.

We do recognize yung hirap ng ating mga guro. And I think the additional P4.4 billion needed for this ay hindi makakasakit sa coffer ng ating bansa”, he said.