DepEd, attached agencies request additional P149.67 billion for 2027

MANILA — The Department of Education (DepEd) and its attached agencies asked the Senate for an additional P149.67 billion on Friday as they briefed the finance subcommittee on their proposed 2027 budget.

DepEd requested for an additional P147.93 billion, while its attached agencies asked for an extra P1.74 billion. 

The attached agencies include the National Book Development Board, National Council for Children’s Television, National Museum of the Philippines, Philippine High School for the Arts, National Academy of Sports, and Teacher Education Council. 

The combined budget of DepEd and its attached agencies in the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) passed by the House of Representatives was P969.79 billion, which was P6.17 billion lower than the proposed budget under the National Expenditure Program (NEP). 

The additional funding, if approved, would go to personnel improvement, purchase of metal detectors and perimeter fences, and the Academic Recovery and Access Learning (ARAL) program, among others. 

ARAL is a remediation program. It did not receive any allocation, which is why DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara requested P15.6 billion for it. 

“We know from international assessments and from national assessments that we have been doing very poorly over the years. And so it’s very timely that the ARAL law was passed. And so now we have a clear basis for a program that will provide remediation for Reading, for Mathematics, and for Science po. Unfortunately, the law is unfunded,” DepEd Undersecretary Carmela Oracion said.  

Sen. Joel Villanueva said it was unacceptable that there was zero funding for the ARAL program.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo asked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) why ARAL had zero funding.  

“Dito sa NEP ho ninyo zero. Eh kita mo naman ho during the past few years, mga estudyante natin parang nasa row four eh, kailangan ho, lalo na po siguro sa mga liblib na lugar, sa mga kanayunan, they need this,” Tulfo said. 

“Zero po siya kasi wala po siyang line item,” said DBM Director IV Vivien Labastilla. “Pero may pondo po siya under the textbook and other instructional materials. So attribution po siya under the PAP.” 

Angara, however, made a clarification.

“I think the confusion stems from the fact that they’re assuming it’s already subsumed in our regular budget, your honor, but that regular budget has not increased over the previous years. So what we’re looking for is a specific item to really fund the ARAL Law. Because that is the mandate of the ARAL Law,” Angara pointed out.

Senate President Win Gatchalian said he would propose to put a line item for the ARAL program.

Meanwhile, subcommittee chairperson Sen. Bam Aquino expressed concern for the budget cut made by the House of Representatives on DepEd’s budget. 

“In 2025, binigyan natin ng zero budget ang flood control. At that time, it was mired in controversy and still mired in controversy until now,” Aquino said.

“Tanggalan natin ng pondo ang mga proyektong iyan at ilagay sa feeding program at classrooms. Gawin nating prayoridad sa ating budget ang kapakanan ng ating kabataan,” he added.

Aquino said they wanted to bring back the education funding to 4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

Angara thanked Aquino.  

“Magandang layunin ho yung 4 percent ho talaga, kasi yun talaga yung benchmark and it’s a minimum, it’s four to six percent ang recommendation ng UNESCO,” Angara said.