BEYOND BUDGET

*Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.*
Last Friday April 21, which fittingly was Eid al-Fitr, I had the honor and privilege of delivering the keynote message at the mid-year commencement exercises of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). I am also grateful and humbled when I accepted the “Tanglaw ng Bayan” award from the university. To be considered as one of those who made a significant contribution to Philippine society is a recognition I will forever cherish.
To the PUP community, led by its esteemed president, Dr. Manuel M. Muhi, my eternal gratitude for the priceless recognition.
There is something about speaking before young people that I find inspiring — I suppose it is their vibrant, hopeful energy that resonates with me. Imagine, this particular batch of PUP students stands out since they went through one of the most difficult health and economic crises in Philippine history due to the pandemic.
But as I told them in my commencement speech, it doesn't matter how long it took them to finish their studies. What’s important is that they have crossed over the final hurdle of their academic requirements.
I also explained to the graduates the connection of choices and chances. Choices are their conscious decisions that can define the path of their future. Chances, on the other hand, are the opportunities that they can either choose to grab or let go. People see chances, but they make choices from those chances.
As a public servant, I have realized that government decisions are chances that have a direct impact on the choices of citizens. This understanding of how government decisions interlock with every Filipino’s judgment call is what moved us at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to craft a national budget that is responsive to the needs of the times.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the global learning crisis. According to the Education Finance Watch (EFW), a collaboration between the World Bank, the Global Education Monitoring Report, and the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the pandemic has caused a substantial impact on global learning losses. Its effect is unequally distributed between and within countries.
Based on scholarly estimates, global learning losses due to the pandemic could cost this generation of students around US$21 trillion in lifetime earnings. This is far greater than the original estimate of US$10 trillion made at the onset of the pandemic, and the 2021 estimates amounting to US$17 trillion.
Further, available data indicate that education lost space in national budgets of low- and lower-middle income countries in 2021 and 2022. From 28 percent in 2019, nearly 41 percent of lower income countries (LICs) reduced their spending on education after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with an average decline in spending of 13.5 percent. In contrast, wealthier economies guarded education spending in the last two years.
Significant reductions in education spending in LICs, where learning poverty is greater, risk worsening the learning crisis. It could lead to lower human capital development and slower economic development.
And so I believe education needs to recover space in national budgets. Governments should indeed prioritize investing in education to facilitate its recovery from learning losses caused by Covid-19.
The Philippines is very fortunate, as our Constitution mandates us to give “highest budgetary priority” to education. We are, in fact, among the top countries in the ASEAN region with substantial public expenditures for education during the pandemic, ranking third among other ASEAN countries, according to the World Bank.
Our country’s education sector has been receiving the highest budget allocation, even averaging 17.2 percent of the total national budget, or 3.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), since 2016.
For 2023, it is the government's choice (to use the term) and commitment to set priority expenditures aligned with the eight-point Socioeconomic Agenda. The budget will also, by choice, respond to the objectives of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.
Beyond the Constitution, the numbers in the national budget palpably show the focus and faithfulness of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to value education as the country moves to full economic recovery and achieves robust growth.
In his first SONA, President Marcos said: “Education is the only legacy we can leave our children that will never go to waste. So we will not hold back on investing in education.” Our vice president and secretary of Education Sara Duterte is also determined to work towards better quality of education and the chance for continuous learning for all.
It is a steadfast choice of the government to invest in the Filipino people and give them the chance to grow by investing in major social and human capital development expenditures. For instance, the bulk of the fiscal year 2023 national budget amounting to ₱5.268 trillion has been allotted to the Education, Culture and Manpower Development Sector amounting to ₱909.1 billion.
Of which, ₱66.53 billion was allotted to Basic Education Inputs, while Education Assistance and Subsidies got ₱54.9 billion. Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education was given ₱47.6 billion, and Basic Education Facilities Program, ₱23.4 billion.
Now, how will this number exactly help our teachers and students? For one, it is a chance to solve problems such as teacher-to-student ratio, education infrastructure, and readiness for blended learning to name a few.
There is still a lot of work needed to enhance the level and efficiency of government spending on education. But we are one with the entire country in setting our focus on the Philippine agenda for prosperity.
DBM is judiciously practicing foresight and the choice to help address the country's looming learning crisis, which is also expected to translate to loss of productivity over the long term if no sound strategies are presented.
We believe that strengthening the education sector is a crucial factor in promoting the country's social and human development.
By offering chances for learning opportunities, Filipinos can make choices to maximize their potential and experience personal development through gainful employment. No one should be left behind.
Beyond budget, education is a chance for every Filipino to improve his or her quality of life. Education empowers us to achieve genuine prosperity as well. But it is also a shared responsibility to work together for the country to achieve complete economic healing and recovery. Let us continue to invest in education. *(Amenah F. Pangandaman is the current Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management.)*