President Marcos vows expanded promotions for teachers

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos yesterday vowed to expand promotion opportunities for deserving public school teachers to help them achieve greater financial stability.

Marcos witnessed the oath-taking of 2,915 newly promoted teachers and school heads from the National Capital Region at the Makati Coliseum, reiterating his commitment made during last year’s State of the Nation Address that no teacher will retire as Teacher I.

“We will expand our educators’ career paths through strategic reclassification. By creating more higher-level positions, we can allow senior educators to move up based on merit and open new entry-level positions for new graduates,” Marcos said.

“Your promotion will be a doorway to a better life for you and your family. We hope to help you achieve greater financial stability and the much-deserved recognition for your very, very hard work,” he added.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara administered the oath, with the President witnessing the pledge of service alongside Makati City Mayor Nancy Binay.

The promotions were carried out through a fast-tracked process that combined appointments to natural vacancies and position reclassification under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) framework.

The process allowed the Department of Education (DepEd) to immediately address long-standing promotion backlogs across NCR divisions.

Of the 2,915 promoted personnel, 2,186 advanced through natural vacancies, while 729 were promoted through ECP reclassification.

Marcos also cited the support provided to public school teachers and non-teaching staff, including the release of funds for the 2025 Service Recognition Incentive (SRI).

The President approved the release of an additional P7.372 billion to cover the remaining funding requirements for the 2025 SRI of qualified teachers and non-teaching personnel nationwide.

‘No more teacher shortage by 2027’

Angara vowed to eliminate the teacher shortage by 2027.

“After this year, we will no longer have a deficit or shortage of teachers, because every year, we hire 20,000. The hiring of teachers has been ongoing since the Marcos administration started,” Angara said yesterday.

DepEd pegged the nationwide teacher shortage at 30,000 in 2025.

Under its P1.015-trillion budget for 2026, the agency plans to hire more than 32,000 teachers and promote about 100,000 teachers this year under the ECP framework.

Angara also expressed support for calls to raise teachers’ salaries, as some groups staged mobilizations pushing for a wage increase.

He vowed to endorse the proposed P50,000 minimum basic salary for teachers if Congress seeks his position.

However, he noted that any increase would depend on available funding.

“It depends on the budget because we know that the budget given to the Department of Education is already big, so whatever Congress says, we will respect it,” he added.

The statement came after the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines urged the government to prioritize salary increases over proposals to offer more flexible loan arrangements for public school teachers.

ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo warned that extending loan terms would only worsen what she described as a vicious cycle of indebtedness if teachers’ salaries remain inadequate.