Former ACT Teachers representative aims return in 2025 midterm elections

MANILA, Philippines — The ACT Teachers Party-list officially filed its certificate of candidacy before the Commission on Elections on Sunday, October 6, listing 10 nominees for the 2025 midterm polls. 

ACT Teachers, a member of the Makabayan Coalition, first managed to secure a seat in Congress during the 2010 elections. Since then, it has successfully maintained its position in the lower chamber.

The party-list’s voter base, however, dwindled in numbers after garnering 1.1 million votes in 2016. By the 2022 national elections, it had received less than a third of that number, with only 330,000 votes.    

“Kung makababalik ang ACT-Teachers sa kongreso, ilalaban namin ang P50,000 na starting na salary ng mga guro, at ipagpapatuloy namin ang nangungunang papel bilang tunay na oposisyon ng taumbayan sa kongreso,” Antonio Tinio, the party’s first nominee said in a speech. 

(If ACT-Teachers returns to Congress, we will fight for a starting salary of ?50,000 for teachers, and we will continue to take a leading role as the true opposition of the people in Congress.)

Nominees. With ACT-Teachers incumbent Rep. France Castro having completed her three-term limit as the party-list’s representative, leading the party-list as its first nominee for a comeback in Congress is Tinio.

Tinio, a former three-term lawmaker and college instructor, represented ACT-Teachers in the 15th to 17th Congresses. 

He also served as the founding national chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, holding the position for 10 years starting in 2002.

The party-list’s second nominee is Helene Dimaukom, a retired teacher from Mindanao, while its third nominee is David Michael San Juan, an academic from De La Salle University.

Joining the list of nominees are ACT Philippines secretary general Raymond Basilio, Bresilda Mediran, Central Visayas teacher April Dyan Gumanao, Arnulfo Anoos, Ateneo de Manila University teacher Gary Devilles, University of Sto. Tomas professor Joyce Caubat and the organization’s founding member Fabian Hallig. 

Legislation. Among the laws passed by ACT Teachers include the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, The Filipino Sign Language Act and the Teaching Supplies Allowance Act.

The party-list advocates for bills that promote a nationalist, scientific and mass-oriented education, aiming to make education accessible and inclusive to all. 

ACT Teachers is also at the forefront in calling for increased salaries, allowances and health benefits for educators. 

During the recent 2025 budget deliberations, ACT Teachers stood out as one of the most vocal groups opposing the government’s allocation of confidential and intelligence funds, particularly for agencies like the Office of the Vice President (OVP), which are not primarily tasked with national security functions.

Impeachment calls. In the final stretch of the 19th Congress, Castro actively criticized Vice President Sara Duterte for the alleged misuse of funds from both the OVP and the Department of Education. She has referred to this as an “impeachable offense.”