Education to get P1.38 trillion in 2026 budget, highest ever

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed P5.2-trillion national budget for 2026 is “fiscally sound and socially responsive,” Senate finance committee chair Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday as the chamber resumed plenary debates on next year’s spending program.

Gatchalian described the budget as historic, citing the largest-ever allocation for education at P1.38 trillion and a record P385.97 billion for defense.

“Development does not rely solely on bridges, roads and buildings, the security of our communities is equally important,” he noted in Filipino.

Health care funding has also been strengthened, with the Zero Balance Billing Program rising to P62.6 billion from the P53.3-billion National Expenditure Program proposal to reduce patients’ out-of-pocket expenses.

Major social programs will likewise receive significant increases: P101.8 billion for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program to include about 500,000 additional near-poor households; an extra P8.2 billion for social pensions to cover 663,000 waitlisted senior citizens and boosted funding for the supplementary feeding program to reach more than 1.8 million children under five.

Support for overseas Filipino workers will grow as well, with the AKSYON fund under the Department of Migrant Workers doubling to P2.4 billion.

The agriculture sector will get an additional P500 million to build more Food Hubs aimed at linking farmers directly with consumers and retailers.

“We have analyzed the budget down to the last detail to come up with policies that are fiscally sound, socially responsive, and humane,” Gatchalian said.

He also confirmed that the Department of Public Works and Highways budget was cut by P55.91 billion after senators flagged questionable infrastructure items.

“We are committed to restoring what has been lost – leadership, accountability and transparency,” he said.

Classroom repairs

Education Secretary Sonny Angara, meanwhile, emphasized that immediate repairs must be complemented by long-term structural fixes in disaster-prone regions.

Angara told Department of Education (DepEd) regional officials during a management committee meeting to use Mimaropa’s conditions as a working case to strengthen “learning continuity, system integrity and school readiness” in areas repeatedly hit by typhoons and earthquakes.

The meeting reviewed how recent storms once again disrupted classes nationwide and exposed long-standing vulnerabilities in school infrastructure and delivery systems.

In Palawan, 781 classrooms were reported damaged by Typhoon Tino, with repairs ongoing, while many schools continue to rely on analog and digital alternative delivery modules or ADMs in communities where power and connectivity remain unstable.

DepEd said the scale of damage in island provinces underscores the need for resilient construction standards, stronger alternative delivery mode systems and funding approaches that anticipate recurring risks, especially in divisions that frequently suspend classes.

Officials also presented national reform updates, including generally positive initial results from the Strengthened Senior High School Program’s rapid assessment and the piloting of the SSHS monitoring tool.

With Mimaropa’s economy driven by agriculture, fisheries and ecotourism, the alignment of course offerings with regional labor market realities was likewise discussed.

The meeting further tackled governance measures and teacher credential integrity.

DepEd reported that it has finalized guidelines for a national registry of recognized teacher education programs, enabling stricter verification of credentials and coordination with Commission on Higher Education, Teacher Education Council, Professional Regulation Commission and EDCOM II to prevent unaccredited programs from slipping into the hiring and promotion pipeline.

The initiative aims to curb “diploma mill” operations and reinforce credibility across the system.

Building on calls to accelerate classroom reconstruction, Sen. Bam Aquino urged DepEd to fast-track the repair and reconstruction of classrooms damaged by recent typhoons and earthquakes to ensure students’ safety and uninterrupted learning.

DepEd earlier reported that about 5,000 schools were affected by recent earthquakes in Central Visayas, the Davao Region and the Negros Island Region, while more than 5,000 classrooms sustained varying degrees of damage from Typhoons Tino and Uwan.

“Classrooms must be immediately repaired so our students can safely continue their studies,” Aquino said, adding that the hardest-hit areas should be addressed first.

The senator also called on DepEd to coordinate more closely with local governments to speed up reconstruction.

During an inspection in Infanta, Quezon, Aquino noted about 1,000 classrooms in the municipality were damaged, while the entire province faces a shortage of roughly 3,400 classrooms.

He stressed that the Senate-approved increase in the budget for classroom construction – from P13 billion to P68 billion – could build 26,000 to 30,000 classrooms.

“The key now is to make sure that money does not end up elsewhere,” he said. — Evelyn Macairan