Angara vows to guard DepEd budget after P12-billion cut in 2025

With a national education roadmap now in place through the newly launched Quality Basic Education Development Plan (QBEDP) 2025–2035, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said that the Department of Education (DepEd) cannot afford another budget cut.

“So babantayan ang budget this year para di maulit ang nangyari last year,” Angara told reporters.

(We will be closely watching the budget this year so that what happened last year doesn't happen again.)

Last December, Angara expressed disappointment over the P12-billion reduction in DepEd’s proposed 2025 budget, with P10 billion slashed from the department’s computerization program.

“Sa amin, almost P12 billion yung na-cut. Karamihan o yung bulk noon na P10 billion ay para doon sa computerization program ng Department of Education,” said Angara, a former chairperson of the Senate finance committee that scrutinizes the proposed national budget.

(Almost P12 billion was cut, with the bulk—P10 billion—taken from the DepEd computerization program.)

The budget cut, Angara noted, could derail efforts to modernize classrooms and equip learners and teachers with digital tools—an essential part of the agency’s plan to improve education quality and access nationwide.

With the QBEDP setting a unified 10-year vision anchored on decentralization, partnerships, and digital transformation, Angara said success now hinges on funding the reforms properly—especially amid the rollout of internet connectivity, curriculum upgrades, teacher promotions, and expanded TVET certification for students.

On Monday, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. acknowledged the challenges plaguing the Philippine education system, including learning poverty and infrastructure backlogs.

In his fourth State of the Nation Address, he vowed to prioritize reforms and affirmed the government's commitment to increase investments in teacher support, curriculum upgrades, and digital tools. —VBL, GMA Integrated News