MANILA – Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Thursday highlighted the need to love and honor Filipino teachers as the country celebrates Teacher’s Day.
“Isa po sa unang sinabi niya (President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.) sa akin alagaan natin ang ating mga guro, mahalin natin ang ating mga guro dahil sila ang nasa puso ng ating sistemang pang-edukasyon (One of the instructions the President gave me was to take care of our teachers, to love our teachers because they are the very heart of our education system),” he said in a speech during the culmination activity of Teachers’ Month at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
He said all new and innovative reforms and programs within the Department of Education (DepEd) are in line with the directives of Marcos.
These include initiatives promoting teachers’ welfare like the Expanded Career Progression of Teachers which provides teachers with teaching or administrative career advancements; increased annual teaching allowance to PhP 10, 000 from PhP 5, 000; doubled Vacation Service Credits for teachers to 30-day from the previous 15 days; flexible implementation of MATATAG Curriculum to “better align” with teachers’ workload; the creation of Task Force Result-based Performance and Teachers’s Workload which will focus on review and policy recommendations to reduce redundancy and ease their loads; personal accident insurance; partnership with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project (TEACEP); and World Teachers’ Day benefit worth PhP 1, 000 among others.
Angara, likewise, lauded First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos as she also served as an educator for over two decades in different schools in the country.
“Isa rin po siyang guro ng abogasya sa (She is also a law teacher at the) West Visayas State University, isa siya sa mga pinaparangalan natin (we also honor her). Happy Teachers’ Day,” he said.
Angara, meanwhile, expressed hopes to receive more support from House Speaker Martin Romualdez and the lawmakers to sustain upholding the welfare of teachers.
“Sana raw madagdagan iyong budget ng (We hope you may be able to increase the budget of the) Department of Education,” he said, garnering applause from around 10, 000 public school teachers from different regions during the event.
The House of Representatives earlier wrapped the budget deliberations on the DepEd’s 2025 proposed budget worth PhP793.17 billion, with major allocations given for elementary and secondary school operations, government assistance and subsidies, teachers’ recruitment and training, construction of classrooms and procurement of textbooks, among others. (PNA)