PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, July 22, guaranteed that he would fulfill his long-time pledge to raise the salaries of 800,000 public school teachers in the country.

During his fourth State of the Nation Address, the President urged Congress to pass a "new version" of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) to raise the teachers' monthly pay.

"I therefore believe that it is now time for Congress to approve a new version of the Salary Standardization Law. Ngayon na (Do it now). And to the teachers who work tirelessly to educate our young, kasali na ho dito ang hinihingi ninyo (your request for an increased salary is included here)," Duterte said.

"Hindi naman masyadong malaki pero (It's not that big, but) it will tide you over during this hard time. A little bit bigger than before," he added.

Duterte gave the assurance amid a teachers group's appeal for him to "act on his promise" to increase the salaries of public school teachers nationwide.

Entry-level teachers currently enjoy a monthly salary of P20,754, following the implementation of the fourth and last tranche of wage hike for government workers this year as provided under the SSL IV.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones earlier noted that the government needs to shell out around P150 billion for the proposed P10,000 across-the-board salary increase for public school teachers.

On June 4, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo asked public school teachers to be patient, as he assured them that Duterte would keep his promise to raise their salaries. (SunStar Philippines)