The Department of Education (DepEd) vowed to fully utilize its proposed budget and all the amount it would get from flood control realignments to fund the various needs of the agency for next year, Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said on Tuesday, September 16.

Angara made this assurance during the Senate Finance subcommittee hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the DepEd and its attached agencies, after presenting the proposed budget of the agency for 2026 which is at P928.52 billion.

Sen. Loren Legarda had asked the DepEd chief how it intends to utilize the budget it will get from realignments from flood control projects identified in the proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) which the Executive department want to be realigned for the construction of more classrooms. 

Legarda asked Angara if the agency has already checked how much it would get and if it has the absorptive capacity to use all the funds, and the secretary responded in the affirmative.

“Yes, we’ve given the committee (a copy of the menu). We’ve met with (Senate finance) chairman (Senator) Sherwin (Gatchalian) two days ago. So we gave him a menu of worth P134-billion, just so you have an idea of the various needs of the department which you could help us with,” Angara said in response to Legarda’s query.

“The reason why it’s such a large amount is because we are leaving it to your discretion and your best judgment where you want it to be used,” Angara said.

The DepEd chief said the additional funding they could get would definitely be used to augment salaries and benefits of teachers and school personnel, feeding program, Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act, and to increase the slots for the Senior High School (SHS) Voucher Program.

Likewise, Angara said the over-all proposed budget of the DepEd would be used to address overcrowding, child hunger, and resource gaps for millions of Filipino learners and teachers nationwide.

He said the allocation, equivalent to a historic 4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), targets the most pressing needs in public schools while investing in long-term reforms.

Moreover, he said the DepEd will lessen its reliance on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) by entering into public-private partnerships and collaborations with local government units (LGUs) for the construction of classrooms, pegged at P13.2-billion. 

Angara also said the agency will allot P11.8–billion to sustain the School-Based Feeding Program; P16-billion for the digital needs of teachers and internet connectivity in schools; and P6-billion for the career growth for teachers and school leaders.

Angara expressed hope that Congress will create fiscal space for critical programs of the DepEd, which Sen. Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV agreed on.

Aquino, in particular, thanked Angara for expressing his support for his bill proposing the Classroom-Building Acceleration Program that seeks to address the backlog of 166,000 classrooms in public schools nationwide.

“We really look forward to the passage of that bill. It’s a breath of fresh air because seeing how over the last decade the classroom deficit has increased year on year,” Angara said of Aquino’s Senate Bill No.121.

As soon as it is approved in the committee level, Aquino said the committee report will be referred to the plenary in the coming weeks. The senator said he is confident it could hurdle the Senate by December.

“If we finish it by December, then the classroom acceleration program can be added as an item in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2026,” said Aquino, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education.

“If we don’t, we will put in a special provision, which basically is the program. Put it into the GAA, so we can undergo the program,” the lawmaker added.

Aquino also assured the DepEd chief that under the measure, the agency will be provided with the necessary manpower to check and monitor the projects undertaken by LGUs and NGOs that will be tapped to deliver the needed classrooms.