PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday vowed to continue improving the teaching profession, in recognition of the contributions and sacrifices of teachers.
Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of 2,915 teachers, school heads and personnel who were promoted under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) program at the Makati Coliseum in Makati City, Marcos acknowledged the significant responsibilities of teachers, both inside and outside the classroom, including long hours spent preparing lesson plans, grading papers, guiding students as second parents, and volunteering as facilitators during elections and census activities.
He said the government was working to create more teaching positions, reduce paperwork and ensure no public school teacher retires as Teacher I.
“We will expand our educators’ career paths through strategic reclassification. By creating higher-level positions, senior educators can move up based on merit and open new entry positions to new graduates,” Marcos said.
“We hope to help you achieve greater financial stability and the much-deserved recognition for your very, very hard work. Beyond these benefits and changes, our commitment to creating a system that protects and empowers teachers remains steadfast,” he said.
Marcos said that education is still the government’s top priority, with more than P1.34 trillion allocated to the education sector, or more than 4 percent of the country’s economy.
He also noted the release of the 2025 Service Recognition Incentive for teachers, totaling P7.3 billion, a P10,000 teaching allowance for the 2025 to 2026 academic year and guidelines for a P7,000 medical allowance.
“And, as I said in my third State of the Nation Address, no public school teacher should retire as Teacher I anymore ... Your promotion will be a doorway to a better life for you and your family,” Marcos said.
The president reminded teachers and school heads to pass on to their students lessons that shape lives: integrity, responsibility and patriotism.
“Many of our country’s problems today cannot be remedied by laws or by policies alone. They require discipline, they require honesty and compassion — values that, while first nurtured within the Filipino home, are further shaped and strengthened in our schools, by you, our teachers,” he said.
The teachers and school heads took their oath before Education Secretary Sonny Angara.
The promotions were implemented through a fast-tracked process that combined appointments to natural vacancies and position reclassification under the ECP framework, enabling the Department of Education to clear long-standing promotion backlogs in Metro Manila divisions.
Out of the 2,915 promoted personnel, 2,186 advanced through natural vacancies, while 729 were promoted under the ECP, which reflected a dual-track approach that enabled qualified educators to move up based on merit and readiness, without being constrained solely by vacant plantilla positions.
Angara said the ECP hastened the promotion of teachers, most of them remained under Teacher I positions for years or even decades.
“The good thing about ECP, every time there is a promotion, their salaries will increase, so this is not just about ranks, but also benefits and recognizing the services of teachers,” he said.
Around 100,000 teachers across the country will benefit under the ECP program.
One of the promoted teachers, Eloisa Cruz of the Eusebio High School in Pasig City, said she was stuck at Teacher 1 for 10 years due to personal issues.
“I am very thankful that I only have a little paperwork to process, they were only asking for a few requirements,” Cruz told reporters.
