SENATOR Francis Escudero refiled his bill that seeks to lower the compulsory retirement age of employees of the Department of Education from 65 to 60.

The measure was first filed in the 17th Congress in 2016.

Escudero said the bill supports the government’s plan to reorganize and streamline the bureaucracy.

Senate Bill 58 or the proposed New DepEd Retirement Age Act will cover all DepEd regular employees, including teachers whose headcount, as of School Year 2019-2020, stood at more than 800,000.

“If enacted into law, this proposed legislation will benefit hundreds and thousands of retirable DepEd personnel, both teaching and non-teaching, who would want to spend the prime of their lives doing other occupations other than their usual functions in the government,” said Escudero, chairman of the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education.

“Mas marapat na bigyan natin ang mga kawani ng pamahalaan na magkaroon ng mahaba-habang panahon para sa kanilang pamilya. There is more to life than work,” he added.

The senator said that the bill supports the revitalization of the department and will ensure high quality education in both public and private schools.

“This measure shall also open the doors of opportunities to young teachers and non-teaching aspirants for the jobs at the Education Department,” Escudero added.