ACT CIS Partylist Rep. Eric Go Yap filed a measure increasing the salary grade of public school teachers from Grade 11 to Salary Grade 15.

Yap said teachers are among the most overworked but underpaid workers in the country, the main reason he’s pushing for the approval of House Bill 10524.

“Especially in the midst of the Covid19, their job has increasingly become more difficult with the sudden transition from traditional to online or blended learning methods. They continue to struggle to provide a better educational experience for their students while trying to appropriate their sparse income for their basic necessities,” Yap said in his explanatory note.

The lawmaker said teachers’ commitment to their profession must not compromise their living conditions.

The measure mandates the national government to appropriate enough fund to cover the upgrading of the salary grade.

The Department of Education shall come up with a specific programmed budget needed to cover the expenses for the upgrading in salary levels for all the corresponding teacher plantilla positions for a period of at least five years.

This would allow the Department of Budget and Management to make necessary budgetary adjustments to facilitate the smooth salary upgrade.