President Marcos Increases Teachers Supplies Allowance
TEACHERS – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. increased the teaching supplies allowance from P5,000 to P10,000 starting School Year 2025-2026.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed a law on Monday to increase the “chalk allowance” for public school teachers, aiming to reduce their personal expenses for daily teaching activities. The Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act raises the annual teaching supplies allowance for over 930,000 public school teachers from P5,000 to P10,000.
“Teachers teach because they feel they have to teach and they want to teach and that’s why we must give them the support so that they are allowed to do precisely that [and] the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act comes as a welcome support to the advancement of the ‘Matatag’ Agenda,” Marcos stated during the signing ceremony.
PBBM emphasized that supporting teachers’ welfare is the fourth component of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) “Matatag” agenda, which aims to address challenges in basic public education nationwide.
The signing ceremony at Malacañang was attended by top officials, including Senate President Francis Escudero, Speaker Martin Romuadez, other lawmakers, and Cabinet members. Notably absent was Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, who has been recently at odds with First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
The DepEd announced that the law would benefit basic education teachers, with this year’s allowance remaining at P5,000 and doubling in the following years. This allowance will not be subject to income tax.
“And while it might seem inconsequential to those who are already used to having a steady supply of basic materials for work, this amount makes an enormous difference for our beloved teachers and for the students,” the president said.
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President Marcos expressed concern that educators, already facing financial difficulties, often have to use their own money for school materials, which distracts them from their teaching responsibilities.
“For decades, they have willingly taken on the burden of having to spend their own money on classroom supplies to aid them in teaching. They embrace this wholeheartedly as their responsibility, as part of their duty as teachers, as part of their vocation,” PBBM said.