Under the proposed 2026 budget, the education sector will exceed P1 trillion P1 trillion
go through Kenneth Christiane Basilio,,,,, reporter
The Philippines government plans to allocate more than $1 trillion to the education sector to meet recommended spending benchmarks for UN agencies, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed on Wednesday.
According to DBM’s budget Briefer, the 2026 National Expenditure Plan (NEP) proposes to allocate about 122.4 million miles of education spending, a 15% increase from this year’s budget.
The proposed allocation covers the Ministry of Education, the Bureau of Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development and the Ministry of Education of State Universities.
“This is significantly in line with the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Educational expenditure on the framework of allocating GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by 2030 by 4.0 to 6.0% in 2030,” the document said.
It added: “National government spending on education will also meet the public spending of 15.0 to 20.0% recommended by UNESCO.”
According to the World Bank, the Philippines allocated 3.6% of its GDP to education in 2023, but lacked the 4-6% benchmark set by the Incheon Declaration.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Works’ budget fell 15% to 881.3 billion, of which P235.1 billion was used for flood management plans.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Transport’s proposed budget has more than doubled from Pes 87.2 billion in this year’s spending plan to reach Pes 197.3 billion as the Marcos government pushes for mass transport upgrades and flagship infrastructure projects.
Other agencies that have obtained a considerable share of the proposed budget are as follows:
Health – P320.5 billion
National Defense – 29.3 billion
Interior and local government – P287.5 billion
Agriculture – P239.2 billion
Social Welfare – 227 billion p5
Judicial – Pesos 6.7 billion
Labor and Employment – 55.2 billion Philippine Pesos.
The hearing is expected to begin in September, providing lawmakers with about a month’s time, before Congress rests on October 4, Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela B. Suansing said in early August.
