Bill on higher teaching supply allowance for teachers pushed

Abill seeking to institutionalize teaching supply allowances for public school teachers nationwide to promote and improve the economic status of teachers, and assist them in providing quality education to their students is now pending for second reading after being introduced at the Senate plenary on Tuesday.

Senate Bill (SB) 1964 or the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act, was jointly submitted by the Committees on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation; Basic Education; Ways and Means; and Finance with Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Robinhood Padilla, Sonny Angara, Christopher Lawrence Go, Joseph Victor

Ejercito, Jinggoy Estrada, Mark Villar, Ronald dela Rosa, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva as authors.

The measure is in substitution of SB 22, 94, 677, 1045, 1729, and 1831.

Under the bill, all public school teachers shall be

At least 200 members of the Coalition Against Privatization of Electric Cooperatives (CAPECs) and the National Center of Electric Consumers Cooperative (NCECCO) that attended the rally dubbed “Pagtukaw alang sa Nordeco” (Vigil for Nordeco) to express their opposition to House Bill Nos. 50777, 6740 and 7047.

HB 5077 was filed by Davao del Norte 1st District 1 Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez, HB 6740 by Rep. Margarita Ignacia B. Nograles of PBA Partylist, and HB 7047 by Rep. Sandro L. Gonzales of MARINO Partylist.

The three bills seek to expand the franchise of DLPC to the Cities of Tagum and Island Garden City of Samal, and the towns of Talaingod, Asuncion, Kapalong, San Isidro, and New Corella in Davao del Norte, and Maco town in Davao de Oro, according to CAPECs chair Angelo Cofreros.

Another proposal, HB No. 6995 filed by Davao de Oro 1st District Rep. Maria Carmen S. Zamora and Davao de Oro 2nd District Rep. Allan R. Dujali, only seeks to expand the DLPC franchise to Samal Island.

For his part, Rene Boy S. Abrea, NCECCO chair for Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte said that the bills should be rejected since President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. had vetoed on July 27, 2022 HB 10554, which would have placed Tagum City, Samal, and the towns of Asuncion, Kapalong, New Corella, San Isidro, and Talaingod under the franchise area of DLPC.

These areas are being serviced by Nordeco, which has an

In her explanatory note, Nograles said HB 6740 would seek to expand the franchise of DLPC by including those same areas in the vetoed bill, and Maco town in Davao de Oro in the jurisdiction of DLPC.

DLPC currently services Davao City, Panabo City, and the townss of Carmen, Dujali and Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte.

“Over the years, Nordeco has suffered from losses and conflicting factions within the cooperative which have led to inadequate infrastructure, piling debts to service providers including power suppliers, cancelled power supply contracts, excessive systems losses, and failure to energize parts of its franchise area even up to this time,” Nograles said.

CAPECs called for the following in the manifesto of support signed by its officers: respect the franchise of Nordeco; priority and equal attention to Nordeco and all electric cooperatives in the distribution of power supply from Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation as partners and implementation arm of the national government in the missionary electrification program; and support and strengthen the electrification services and programs of electric cooperatives through legislative interventions and laws, not privatization by private for-profit companies.

It said the takeover of Nordeco will eventually result in the monopoly of private for–profit entities in the energy sector, depriving the rights and opportunities of owning an electric cooperative among the underprivileged, especially in the countryside.

It also called on the National