MANILA, Philippines — The Palace said Friday that there is a call for increased funding for key programs of the Department of Education (DepEd), warning that the 2025 budget cuts could worsen the country’s ongoing teacher shortage.

According to the Presidential Communications Office, during a meeting with Education officials to review the agency’s proposed 2025 budget, the President has called for adequately funding the education sector, following the department’s budget cuts.

“We have to be able to show that that’s (education) the priority,” Marcos said.

Despite DepEd’s proposed P748 billion appropriations for 2025, Congress approved a reduced budget of P737 billion, affecting allocations for new school personnel positions, the Basic Education Facilities Fund (BEFF), and the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP), it said.

According to DepEd, the budget reduction for new school personnel will worsen the teacher shortage, with existing staffing gaps from previous years remaining unresolved.

The DCP, which initially proposed P12.379 billion, was slashed to P2.43 billion. DepEd noted that the decrease would hinder the delivery of essential tools for learners and teachers, including laptops, smart TVs, and satellite-based internet. 

At the same time, the agency was forced to cancel around P4 billion of the P7 billion DCP projects already in early procurement stages.

The lower BEFF allocation will also impact the construction of new school buildings, further straining the country’s education infrastructure.

In December last year the Congress’ bicameral conference committee removed DepEd’s P10 billion request for its 2025 computerization program. 

Senate President Chiz Escudero said that Marcos can still augment DepEd’s budget using unspent funds without vetoing other items in the General Appropriations Act.

“There are several unspent items in the DepEd budget that can be used, particularly from the funds allocated for DepEd’s computerization program from 2022 to 2024,” Escudero said, citing official submissions by DepEd during budget hearings.

Unused funds over three years

According to Escudero, significant portions of DepEd’s budget for its computerization program have remained unutilized:

• In 2022, P13.068 billion was allocated, but P10.03 billion remained unobligated.
• In 2023, DepEd used only 50 percent of its P20.4 billion allocation.
• In 2024, P15.9 billion of the P18.08 billion budget remains unspent.

In total, P36.13 billion across three years was left unused — an amount far exceeding the P10 billion DepEd sought to restore in its 2025 budget.

Escudero cautioned that the P10.034 billion in unobligated funds from 2022 will revert to the National Treasury by the end of this year due to non-utilization.

Vice President Sara Duterte, who is now facing multiple controversies for alleged mismanagement of the DepEd and the Office of the Vice President, previously led the education department. She resigned from her post in June.