FOUR-term senator, Loren Legarda, filed two separate measures to improve the benefits and conditions of private school teachers and barangay health workers (BHWs) even before the formal opening of the19th Congress on July 25, 2022.
Legarda, who placed second in the May 9, 2022 senatorial elections after garnering nearly 44 percent of the votes cast, said there is a pressing need to address the situation of both private school teachers and BHWs.
Under Senate Bill (SB) 3, Legarda highlighted the importance of passing a ‘Magna Carta of Private School Teachers’ to safeguard the rights and welfare of the teaching force in private institutions.
The measure aims to improve the social and economic status of private school teachers by protecting their rights and providing security of tenure and permanence, which assures the stability of their employment.
It also provides guidelines on compensation, leave, and retirement benefits, as well as Teachers’ Organizations.
“We must continue to promote and advance the social, economic, and professional status of teachers and non-teaching personnel as they all play an invaluable role in national development,” said Legarda, who is also expected to assume the second highest position in the Upper Chamber as Senate President Pro Tempore with the formal convening of Congress two weeks from now.
Expected to become the Senate President is Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, the Majority Leader in the 18th Congress.
Legarda has also filed a separate measure seeking to amend RA 4670, or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, which was passed into law in 1966, during the 6th Congress.
Legarda noted that the “same rights” for public school teachers provided for under RA 4670 should also be given to private school teachers.
On the other hand, under SB 5, Legarda also sought to give better compensation for the BHWs, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic” has further magnified their importance as one of the country’s frontliners.”
SB 5 seeks to provide a “comprehensive set of compensation, incentives, and other benefits in acknowledgment of the services these health workers render to the people.”
“BHWs suffer due to a lack of effective support mechanisms and insufficient funds from the local government units.
“The deplorable state of barangay health programs and services is due to the current shortage of volunteers, the BHWs, whose numbers seem insufficient to address the growing needs of barangays,” noted.
“The nation’s healthcare delivery system will falter at the grassroots without the dedication and hard work of barangay health workers,” Legarda added.