A third petition against alleged unconstitutional provisions in the 2025 national budget under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) has been filed before the Supreme Court (SC).
This time, the case was filed by several groups led by the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) which alleged that the GAA under Republic Act No. 12116, did not give the highest budgetary priority to education.
TDC, the Freedom from Debt Coalition and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates told the SC that the failure to give the highest priority to education in the national budget violated Section 5 (5) of Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution.
The groups said: “Petitioners vigorously assert, motivated by national interest, the education budget for 2025 should receive the highest budgetary allotment. Recent education data by global and national institutions reveal that education in the country is in crisis.”
They also said the P737 billion 2025 budget for the Department of Education (DepEd) is much lower than P1.1 trillion allotted for the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH).
Named respondents in the groups’ petition were President Marcos, Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, and the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The first two petitions against the 2025 national budget were filed by former executive secretary Victor Rodriguez, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab and several lawyers, and the 1Sambayan Coalition, Sanlakas, Advocates for National Interest and several individuals.
It is expected that the SC would require the respondents to comment on the petition filed by TDC and its groups. It is also expected that the petition would be consolidated with the first two petitions.
The SC had decided to conduct oral arguments on the first two petitions starting May 19. The third petition may also be included in the oral arguments.