EDUCATION Secretary Sonny Angara on Tuesday presented to the Senate Committee on Finance the agency’s proposed P928.52 billion budget for 2026.
The record allocation, he said, would address classroom shortages, child hunger, and other resource gaps affecting Filipino learners and teachers.
The proposed budget is projected to be the equivalent of four percent of the country’s gross domestic product, an amount widely considered by international organizations as the minimum threshold for meaningful investment in human capital.
Angara emphasized that the proposed budget was not meant to solve only urgent problems but also to lay the groundwork for long-term reforms.
“We continue to face enormous challenges in education, but the direction is clear — every peso is for our teachers and learners. The support of the President and our lawmakers is an essential investment to meet urgent needs while building a strong foundation for the future,” he said.
Angara said the P928.52 billion would be used for the following: building nearly 4,900 new classrooms in 2026, with an ambitious target of up to 40,000 classrooms by 2028 through public-private partnerships and collaboration with local governments; allocating P11.8 billion to sustain the School-Based Feeding Program, which guarantees proper meals for undernourished pupils in Kindergarten and Grades 1 to 6; buying P16 billion worth of laptops and other digital tools to provide internet access to schools that remain offline; and securing a P6 billion fund to support the career progression of an estimated 113,000 teachers and school leaders.
Angara said the initiative is a “direct investment in the livelihood of educators and their families.”
He vowed transparency through monthly monitoring via public dashboards under the Open Government initiative that will display the number of classrooms completed, meals served, and digital tools delivered.
“Education does not end in one year or one budget cycle. It is a long-term battle that requires the steady support of government, the private sector, and every Filipino,” Angara said. F
