Education Secretary Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara on Monday appealed for a P145-billion supplemental fund to cover key ‘unbudgeted’ programs, as the Department of Education (DepEd) presented its proposed P975.96-billion budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 before the House Committee on Appropriations.
‘For next year, we aim to build on the progress we have achieved over the past four years,’ Angara said.
While the budget proposal under the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) safeguards key operations, Angara urged lawmakers to fill funding gaps for learning recovery, personnel hiring, and heightened school safety and security.
Our FY 2027 budget proposal builds on the reforms we have already started and focuses on key investments needed to further improve the quality, accessibility, and efficiency of basic education for every Filipino Angara said, thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Congress for the previous year’s historic P1.015 trillion allocation, which enabled DepEd to pursue critical reforms to improve learning outcomes and strengthen basic education support.
Under the proposed NEP allocation, Personnel Services increased by 8.64 percent to P766.74 billion to cover salaries and career progression, while Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) declined by 15.94 percent to P174.32 billion, and Capital Outlay fell by 67.49 to P32.34 billion.
The remaining P2.56 billion is divided among six attached agencies, including the National Museum of the Philippines at P1.56 billion; the Teacher Education Council at P360.28 million; National Academy of Sports at P258.48 million; the National Book Development Board at P169.96 million; the Philippine High School for the Arts at P135.28 million; and the National Council for Children’s Television at P76.01 million.
Under the core thrusts of the proposed 2027 budget, P12.09 billion is earmarked to promote over 135,000 teachers and school heads under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) system; P17.31 billion to construct over 4,900 new classrooms; and P7.33 billion for 11,100 classroom repairs.
DepEd has allocated P6.4 billion for textbooks and instructional materials; P10.81 billion for learning recovery under the Project for Learning Upgrade Support and Decentralization (PLUS-D) program; and P2.63 billion for Inclusive Education programs.
For learner support and well-being, P11.43 billion is designated for the School-Based Feeding Program for 3.69 million learners including all Kindergarten learners and wasted/severely wasted learners from Grade 1 onwards, while P38.12 billion will support 2.32 million private education voucher and subsidy grantees.
Meanwhile, P801.5 million will fund the hiring of 1,800 School Counselor Associates and 221 Schools Division Office Counselors.
Angara highlighted that several critical programs remain unfunded under the 2027 NEP, prompting an appeal for P145.19 billion in additional funding for DepEd and P1.74 billion for attached agencies.
‘Ito po ang mga priority interventions na hindi na-accommodate sa FY 2027 NEP level budget ngunit mahalaga upang mas mapabilis ang ating mga reporma at mas mapabuti ang learning outcomes ng ating mga mag-aaral,’ Angara explained.
Primary among these is the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, which received no funding in the 2027 NEP despite its positive results during School Year 2025-2026, which saw the number of struggling readers decrease from 6.7 million to 2.2 million, and the number of learners reaching grade-level reading readiness rise from 3.3 million to 5.8 million.
Angara requested P15.98 billion for the ARAL Program to cover honoraria for teaching overload, training for DepEd tutors, external tutors’ compensation, learning resources, the ARAL Summer Program, learning recovery and remediation consultations, and program management, as well as P50 million for the Bayang Bumabasa initiative.
In addition to learning recovery, DepEd’s supplemental request seeks P49.16 billion to hire 14,274 new teachers and around 59,000 non-teaching staff while providing teacher benefits, training, laptops, and other support mechanisms that will enable teachers to focus on teaching.
DepEd is also requesting P37.75 billion to construct 1,500 new classrooms, repair and rehabilitate school buildings, provide learning materials, and undertake disaster preparedness. This includes P8.68 billion dedicated to school safety and security, which allocates P5.05 billion for school security guards, PH2.31 billion for metal detectors and walkthrough scanners, and P1.5 billion for perimeter fences.
DepEd also requested P40.33 billion to expand the School-Based Feeding Program, learner assistance and subsidies, health and mental health services, guidance programs, and sports development.
DepEd also requested P983.8 million to expand support for learners with special needs, learners in Madrasah schools, indigenous peoples learners, and those in hard-to-reach communities.