THE PHILIPPINE Business for Education (PBEd) on Thursday urged the government to establish effective and robust accountability and oversight mechanisms to ensure state funds are not wasted, citing the need to fund programs to address the country’s lack of classrooms and teachers.
This comes after Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed the P6.326-trillion national budget for 2025, vetoing more than P194 billion worth of line items that he said were inconsistent with his administration’s priorities.
“We urge the administration and Congress to establish robust monitoring and oversight mechanisms to ensure taxpayers’ money is used efficiently and effectively to achieve our nation’s priorities,” PBEd said in a statement.
“Our people have always been our biggest asset; yet we are still deep in the learning and nutrition crisis. Our education system continues to face backlogs in teacher recruitment, classroom construction, and provision of learning materials.”
The group also raised concerns over “discretionary funds” that may be prone to the misuse of funding meant for priority health and education programs.
Mr. Marcos had vetoed P26.065 billion worth of projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and projects worth P168.24 billion under “unprogrammed appropriations.”
Public Works Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan earlier told reporters the vetoed projects were “not ready for implementation.” “It will take us sometime anyway to make sure that these will be implemented right away,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Under this year’s spending plan, the education sector will still receive the highest allocation with P1.053 trillion amid questions on the legality of massive budget cuts faced by the Department of Education (DepEd).
The sector is composed of DepEd, state universities and colleges, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman earlier said unprogrammed appropriations now account for 4.7% of the General Appropriations Act of 2025, “consistent” with the standard that standby funds should only be 5% of the total budget. The DPWH was given a budget of P1.007-trillion budget for 2025, lower than the P1.034-trillion funding approved by Congress.
“Realigning discretionary funds towards institutions that ensure people are educated, fed, and healthy not only immediately impact the poor, but also lay the groundwork for a strong economy,” PBEd said.
“While mending the budget is vital, it must be accompanied by clear, long-term strategies that prioritize the needs of our people and benefit the entire nation.”
The group added that it will work with policymakers to ensure transparency in government education spending as the country tries to boost the performance of Filipino students and to make them competitive with their global counterparts.
In the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) published on Nov. 14, Filipino students showed among the highest levels of mathematics anxiety among 15-year-old students globally.
Previously, 16% of Filipino students attained at least Level 2 proficiency in mathematics, significantly lower than the 69% average across OECD countries.
Filipino students were also among the world’s weakest in mathematics, reading, and science as the Philippines ranked 77th out of 81 countries in all categories, performing worse than the global average in another PISA 2022 assessment.
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian said this year’s spending plan will include a subsidy program for the poorest students who will enroll in private schools, with P12.077 billion allotted for the Educational Service Contracting Program.
Under the program, the government will shoulder the tuition and other miscellaneous fees of students in overcrowded junior public high schools moving to private schools. The subsidies will be given in vouchers. — John Victor D. Ordoñez