MANILA – Department of Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara is optimistic that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will address the P12 billion cut on his office’s budget for next year.
In a social media post, Angara said it was surprising that Congress made the budget cut instead of increasing DepEd’s funds, as done by the previous Congress.
“In past years, Congress increased the President’s proposed budget for DepEd. 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.
The bicameral conference committee approved last week the budget cuts of P12 billion from DepEd and P30 billion from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Angara said 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.
While the 2025 DepEd budget is higher than in 2024, Angara noted that the increase falls short of addressing personnel needs, such as hiring new teachers and implementing salary adjustments under the Salary Standardization Law.
“Tapos ‘yung sinasabi na tumaas pa din ang agency budget versus last year– kulang pa para sa personnel services lang ‘yung pag-hire ng bagong teachers and personnel (na cinut din ng P1.5 billion) para ma-meet ang desired ratios and personnel goals at para sa SSL (Salary Standardization Law) increases,” he said.
Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Finance Committee, clarified that despite the cuts, the overall DepEd budget in 2025 remains higher than in 2024.
Poe also cited a Commission on Audit (COA) report that only 50% of the 2023 Computerization Program budget was utilized, citing procurement delays as a systemic issue that must be addressed before allocating additional funds./PN
