PBBM salutes nearly 2,000 promoted teachers in Bulacan, Pampanga

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 






CITY OF SAN JOSE DEL MONTE, Bulacan, 19 February 2026 — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Thursday lauded the almost 2,000 newly promoted public school teachers and school leaders in Central Luzon, as the government accelerated the rollout of a career progression program aimed at expanding promotion opportunities in the education sector.



“Today, as you take your oath, you reaffirm the belief that every Filipino child deserves a fair shot at a brighter tomorrow. Bawat lesson plan na ginawa ninyo, bawat karanasan sa silid-aralan na nililikha ninyo, bawat mabuting asal na itinuturo ninyo, doon unti-unting nabubuo ang kumpiyansa at pangarap ng ating mga estudyante,” President Marcos said.



Education Secretary Sonny Angara led the oath taking of 1,991 promoted and reclassified personnel from Bulacan and Pampanga at the City of San Jose del Monte Sports Complex. The group included teachers promoted to higher ranks from Teacher II to Teacher VII, Master Teachers I to III, and school principals from Principal I to Principal IV.



The ceremony forms part of the nationwide implementation of Republic Act No. 12288, or the Career Progression for Public School Teachers and School Leaders Act, signed by President Marcos in 2025. The law establishes a structured, competency-based system that allows educators to advance through either classroom teaching or school leadership tracks, with equivalent salaries and benefits.

“Sa pagpapabilis at pagpapalawak ng promosyon, mas napapalakas natin ang hanay ng mga guro na siyang susi sa mas dekalidad na edukasyon para sa bawat batang Pilipino,” Secretary Angara said. “Malinaw na pagsasabuhay ito ng prayoridad ng Pangulo na palakasin ang ating sistema ng edukasyon sa pamamagitan ng mas matibay na suporta sa ating mga guro.”



The Bulacan and Pampanga cluster accounted for one of the largest groups of newly promoted personnel in recent months. Bulacan recorded 408 promotees, followed by Pampanga with 368, Mabalacat City with 301, Angeles City with 238, and the City of San Fernando with 233. Other school divisions included Meycauayan City with 128, San Jose del Monte City with 145, Malolos City with 90, and Baliwag with 80.



More than 16,000 teachers nationwide had already been promoted under the expanded career progression system, with 40,000 more applications under review.



Implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd), the new system expands career ranks, including Teacher IV to VII and Master Teacher V, to address long-standing promotion bottlenecks and recognize teachers’ professional growth and years of service.



Angara noted the reform is designed to boost morale, retain experienced educators in classrooms, and strengthen instructional quality in public schools.



The oath-taking in Central Luzon follows similar ceremonies in other regions. In January, 789 teachers in the Ilocos Region were sworn into higher positions, while 2,915 personnel in the National Capital Region were promoted or reclassified under the same program and through regular promotion channels.

At the same time, DepEd continues to implement the YAKAP program, a comprehensive initiative focused on the welfare of teachers, personnel, and learners, which includes strengthened access to healthcare services in partnership with PhilHealth.



President Marcos and Sec. Angara visited YAKAP implementation in Minuya Elementary School in Bulacan, where they engaged with teachers and personnel and underscored the government’s commitment to supporting educators beyond career advancement.

Rene Pineda, Staunch Environmental Advocate, Completed His Journey at 69

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

20 February 2026, Quezon City. Renato “Rene” D. Pineda, Jr., a fearless environmental warrior, passed away on February 16, 2026. He would have turned 70 on August 13.

Pineda is revered for his companionship, leadership, and commitment to Mother Earth and the Filipino people. He is particularly remembered for his principled stance on many issues that matter to the health and well-being of the people and the ecosystems, challenging duty-bearers, government and industry leaders in particular, to prioritize environmental sustainability and social justice.

In his decades of advocacy, Pineda served in various capacities in many environmental formations such as the Concerned Citizens Against Pollution (COCAP), Consumer Rights for Safe Food (CRSF), EcoWaste Coalition, Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy, National Task Force Against Aerial Spraying (NTFAAS), Partnership for Clean Air (PCA), and more.

As president of the PCA, Pineda fought for the basic right to clean air. “Aside from stopping waste burning in all its forms, action is needed to reduce air pollution from coal power plants and industrial facilities, as well as from vehicles, planes, and ships. Our children and their children will be better off if we invest more in zero waste resource management, energy efficiency, and renewable energy sources rather than in fossil fuel combustion and waste-to-energy incineration,” he stated.

Pineda supported the EcoWaste Coalition’s long-running campaign against firecrackers and fireworks called “Iwas Paputoxic.” Addressing a community event in Caloocan City, he pointed out: “The unseen health hazard of air pollution brought about by lighting firecrackers and fireworks far outweighs the momentary spectacle of revelry. Toxic fumes emitted by these explosives often contain complex chemical compounds that may lead to respiratory tract infections and even death in vulnerable sectors like the elderly, children, and pregnant women.”



As then vice-president of the EcoWaste Coalition, Pineda minced no words in rejecting landfill disposal for the controversial Canadian garbage shipment. “We stand in solidarity with the Tarlac government and people in their efforts to stop a precedent-setting disposal of illegal trash from Canada and ensure the protection of public health and the environment. Canada cannot simply bury the evidence of this case of gross environmental injustice in our soil and get away with it,” he said. To prevent pollution, Pineda called on the national government to undertake two urgent steps: “First, we should ratify the Basel Ban Amendment (to protect the country from becoming a foreign waste dumpsite) and second, we should stop tinkering with legalizing the burning of waste through waste-to-energy (WtE) proposals."

As early as 2010, Pineda had objected to WtE incineration. "It will instantly cut the cycle of resources that require lots of energy to produce. The alleged energy recovery by a WtE is nowhere near one-tenth of one percent of a resource’s energy requirement to be mined, transformed and manufactured, marketed and used as a consumer item, and disposed of as waste. Therefore, a WtE, no matter how it is green-washed today by its proponents, will hasten the depletion of the Earth’s non-renewable resources. It will quickly de-energize our planet and fuel nations in the race against an irreversible global warming.”

As head of the NTFAAS, he reminded banana plantation owners engaged in the aerial application of pesticides that “to be in business is not a matter of right but a privilege.” He said: “In the discourse about aerial spraying of pesticides, wherein a clear-cut policy is absent ever since, and severe public health and environment hazards are clearly established and verifiable, that privilege is mandatorily prevailed upon by the most supreme right – the right to life of affected citizens.”



Disturbed by moves to revive the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, Pineda urged proponents to rethink their “solution” to the energy crisis: “We urge our policy makers not to wake up the sleeping ‘monster of Morong’ from its 30-year slumber. It’s better to keep the plant idle rather than to create a highly toxic problem that our nation cannot handle.”

As president of the CRSF, he pushed for food safety vigilance to ensure quality and safe food for all. “We call upon the government to uphold the safety and welfare of the consuming public by the full implementation of laws (particularly RA 10611 or the Food Safety Act) that govern the safety of food.” More recently, Pineda pressed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to speed up the probe on the use of banned food coloring Rhodamine B in fermented shrimp paste (bagoong alaman), “so corrective measures can be immediately carried out.”

Pineda also backed legal challenges and remedies to uphold the right to health and the right to a healthy environment. In 2015, he joined environmental groups and advocates in intervening in a Canadian garbage dumping case at the Manila Regional Trial Court. In 2018, he led the filing of a petition for writ of mandamus at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, together with the late Laban Konsyumer president Vic Dimagiba, to press for the release of the long-delayed Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10620.

Pineda is lying in repose at the Transfiguration of Christ Parish, Barangay San Roque, Antipolo City. Interment is set for February 24, 2026.

Consumers welcome Free Electricity bill, stress need for awareness campaigns

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 




Metro Manila (February 20) – Electricity consumer welfare group Kuryente.org welcomed the recent filing of a bill that aims to provide free electricity access to households with a low average monthly consumption. However, the group emphasized that there is still a need to increase the awareness of consumers of available benefits.

House Bill 2700 filed by Ilocos Norte First District Rep. Sandro Marcos seeks to use direct government subsidies to cover the cost of electricity for households and consumers whose average monthly consumption in three months does not exceed 135 kilowatt-hours (kWh), or whose monthly bill does not exceed P2,000, whichever is lower.

“The bill is good news,” says Kuryente.org National Coordinator Bas Umali. “We support any law or program that provides benefits, especially to our poor consumers.”

Umali also urged the House Majority Leader to review and study which charges from electricity bills may still be removed or reduced and paid by the government.

More education

Umali says the government currently has a lifeline rate program which gives assistance to low-income consumers as well as discounts for senior citizens. The cost of these subsidies and discounts is borne by fellow consumers through cross-subsidization.

However, only 334,000 consumers are registered under the lifeline rate out of 4.5 million potential qualified beneficiaries, according to the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Through consultations with communities, Kuryente.org found that many consumers were not aware of the lifeline rate. Umali says the government should improve and expand their information education communication campaigns so that consumers may become informed of the benefits available to them.

“The community’s sentiments were consistent with our office’s observation that the consumer education campaign of the DOE and ERC regarding this program is insufficient,” says Umali. “We are asking the government to study existing programs to gain insights on how to improve the proposed bills to support consumers.”

The government should also evaluate the implementation of existing programs to identify the limitations and challenges that should become the basis of new policies, says Umali. He adds that the government should study if the discount for senior citizens is enough and how more consumers can benefit from the lifeline rate apart from the over four million who are qualified.