MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. promised to find ways to restore the P10 billion that was cut from the Department of Education’s (DepEd) 2025 budget.
The Chief Executive stated in an interview that his office is still reviewing the DepEd budget as he believes slashing the allocation for education is “contrary” to the administration’s policy.
“We are still looking into it. I think it is contrary to all our policy direction when we talk about the (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) development of our educational sector and then the continuing development,” Marcos said.
“We’re working on it to make sure that we will restore it. I do not want to line-item veto anything because that just gets in the way. So, we’re still talking about it and trying to find a way,” he added. “And I think we’ll still be able to do it, to be able to do something.”
Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said over the weekend that he is optimistic that President Marcos will address his office’s budget for next year.
In a social media post, Angara said that it was surprising that the Congress made the budget cut instead of increasing DepEd’s funds, as done by previous Congress.
“In past years, Congress has increased the President’s proposed budget for DepEd and education. For whatever reason, nakakalungkot na hindi ito mauulit sa 2025 budget,” Angara said.
“Budgeting is really about priorities and education is too important to not be a funding priority. Pero ang maganda dito, mismong si President Bongbong ang nagsabi sa amin na reremedyohan niya ito,” he added.
Angara said that P10 billion of the DepEd cut was originally allocated for its computerization program, which aims to modernize the learning process and bridge the digital divide.
The bicameral conference committee approved last week the budget cuts of P12 billion from DepEd and P30 billion from the Commission on Higher Education./PN
