Legal Education Board airs budget concerns

The Legal Education Board (LEB) on Friday expressed concerns about its supposed lack of budget for the fiscal year 2026 to sustain and improve its regulation of the law schools in the country, as it remains dependent on the allocation by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Citing Republic Act No. 7662, also known as the Legal Education Reform Act of 1993, LEB Chairperson Jason Barlis said that the board is supposed to be a separate agency for the legal education sector, despite it being attached to the CHED for budgetary purposes and administrative support. 

Under the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the LEB was allocated a P66.8 million budget under the CHED’s Legal Education Regulation Program. 

“It’s still a concern for the 2026 budget kasi po ‘yung aming (because our) budget allocation for 2026 is designed as the budget that we received last 2025," Barlis said during the Senate committee on finance’s deliberations on the proposed P33.997 billion budget of the CHED for next year. 

"[This is] despite that we have more schools to inspect currently…mas maraming developmental processes and programs na ginagawa ang LEB ngayon, at sa totoo po lang, ang kondisyon ng ating legal education sector ay kailangang kailangan na talagang i-upgrade,” he added.

(This is even though we have more schools to inspect currently, and we have more developmental processes and programs being implemented now. And to be honest, the condition of our legal education sector really needs to be upgraded.) 

The LEB, on its website, pointed out that it is not under the CHED nor the Supreme Court.  

It said that it is not subordinated to any department or branch of the government, thus its acts and proceedings “are not subject to review by any agency of the government except by the courts in an appropriate petition or action.”

“Kaya medyo may kaunting issue doon sa pagla-lodge sa amin as a sub-program kasi nagkakaroon po ng misappreciation, nagmumukha kaming programa ng CHED. Pero sa katotohanan at sa structure ng batas mismo, hindi po dapat kami sub-program,” Barlis said.

(There’s a bit of an issue in lodging us as a sub-program because there is a misappreciation, it makes us look like a program of CHED. But in reality and in the structure of the law itself, we should not be a sub-program.) 

“Although we’re working with the DBM already regarding this para sana magkaroon ng sariling bahay ‘yung programa ng LEB at hindi siya mag-appear na mukhang regulatory ang kaisa isang trabaho ng LEB. Hindi regulatory lang ang ginagawa ng LEB, maraming developmental programs,” he continued. 

(Although we're working with the DBM already regarding this so that the LEB program can stand on its own and not appear as if its only job is regulatory. We have a lot of developmental programs.) 

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate finance committee, expressed support for LEB, saying that it should still be a body attached to CHED but separate in terms of budgetary approach. 

He, however, emphasized that it is only the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that can decide on the matter. 

CHED chairperson Shirley Agrupis, meanwhile, said that she already endorsed the proposal of LEB to the DBM. 

“Ayoko lang ma-brandan na kuripot porke Ilokana ako. ‘Yung request ng LEB ay isinama namin sa wish list tier 2 namin. Pero ‘yung mga iba, maybe they realized when they recalibrated their new additional strategic agenda, so we support for that,” Agrupis said. 

(I don’t want to be branded as stingy just because I’m Ilocana. Some of the requests of LEB were included on our wish list tier 2. But as for the others, maybe they realized when they recalibrated their new additional strategic agenda, so we support for that.)

“With regards sa sulat nila na sinabi nilang gusto nilang maihiwalay (to their letter saying that they want to be separated) so they will not be treated as program, I favorably endorsed that letter to DBM… We just received the letter of DBM now, citing us legal basis why they need to stay at CHED,” she added.