Angara: P961.3 billion DepEd budget will boost Philippine education

MANILA, Philippines — The approved P961.3-billion budget for 2026 for the Department of Education will be used to boost the quality of education in the country, according to DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara.

In his Facebook page, Angara said the DepEd budget next year, approved by the bicameral conference committee, would be a “big contribution to further improve the quality of education – to provide better support for the teachers, provide more opportunities for the youth and to strengthen the foundation for teaching.”

He gave assurance that under the Marcos administration, every public school in the country would be geared toward the direction of building a “Bagong Pilipinas” or New Philippines.

Under the bicameral version of the 2026 budget, DepEd’s allocation rose to P961.3 billion from the P874.5 billion originally proposed in the National Expenditure Program of the executive, or an increase of P86.8 billion.

House appropriations chairperson Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing had said that the budget for fiscal year 2026 would contain the highest education budget in history.

It was reported that P57.3 billion has been earmarked for the Basic Education Facilities Program, which covers the construction of classrooms and other school infrastructure.

The funds will be used to construct 40,000 classrooms by next year.