MANILA — Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Tuesday said the Department of Education’s record-high budget for 2026 will allow the hiring of 65,100 teaching and non-teaching plantilla personnel and the long-awaited promotion of around 100,000 public school teachers.

In a press briefing in Malacañang, Angara thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Congress for the PhP1.015-trillion allocation for DepEd under the PhP6.793-trillion national budget for 2026.

Angara said the lack of career advancement has long been a major reason why many public school teachers leave the service.

“Pero dito sa binigay na budget—kaya nga unprecedented din po in terms of promotions—kasi makakapag-promote tayo ng over 100,000 (public school teachers) with the budget given by Congress this year,” Angara said.

Under the Expanded Career Progression implemented during his term, Angara said DepEd has already promoted 16,025 teachers, with another 41,183 teachers processed for the next batch of promotion.

“Ito iyong rason kung bakit umaalis ang ating mga teachers, dahil sa pakiramdam po nila hindi sila na-appreciate ng pamahalaan, hindi sila napo-promote nang husto – halos isang dekada hindi na-promote, hindi tumataas ang suweldo,” he said.

Angara described the 30 percent increase in DepEd’s budget as the biggest he has seen in his political career, noting that the Philippines has, for the first time, met the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization benchmark for education spending of at least 4 to 6 percent of gross domestic product.

With the increased funding, Angara said DepEd will boost spending on key programs, including the School-Based Feeding Program, whose budget rose from PhP3 billion last year to over PhP25 billion this year.

The department will also fully fund the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program, which provides free tutorials and learning interventions to help students catch up in Math, Science, and Reading.

“For the first time, binigyan po tayo ng PhP9 billion so lahat po ng eskuwelahan mayroon na tayong tutor under the ARAL Program,” Angara said.

The 2026 budget also provides funding for the construction of 24,000 classrooms, far exceeding the original allocation of 5,000 to 6,000 classrooms.

Angara said classroom construction will no longer be undertaken solely by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“So ngayon, mayroon tayong flexibility provision na aside from DPWH, even DepEd, even local government units… And the majority of the projected 20,000 plus classrooms will be built by our local government units or bidded out by our local government units,” he said.