A lawmaker is urging the Department of Education to provide special risk allowance to teachers to give them more incentive to join the resumption of in-person classes.

Under House Resolution 2410, Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo seeks P80,000 cash assistance to teachers who contract COVID-19 while participating in face-to-face classes.

"Teachers are also asked to sign waivers in some schools, meaning if they fall ill, the DepEd will not take accountability."

The bill aims to cover some 865,000 public school teachers and 300,000 private school teachers, according to Quimbo. The proposed P18.5 billion will come from DepEd's savings, she said.

"It was revealed that a lot of their funds have not been spent. If you sweep the savings of DepEd I’m almost sure you'll find that amount," she said.

"As long as they declare the savings, they have the power to realign their savings for this purpose. Especially this year, mababa talaga ang utilization rate ng government agencies-- it’s particularly low for this year for all agencies, including DepEd."

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