Palace maintains DepEd has highest allocation in 2025 budget

MANILA, Philippines — The Palace maintained that the Department of Education (DepEd) has a higher budget in 2025 than the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin made the pronouncement on Tuesday after budget critics pointed out that the education sector’s budget ranked higher only due to the inclusion of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) and the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), which fall under a different government sector.

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Without the PNPA and the PMA, the DPWH’s budget was larger than that of the education sector.

However, according to Bersamin, the language of the Constitution is not specific; therefore, education must be looked at with a broader understanding.

“Before, the treatment was that the education budget was only what was allocated to DepEd. That was the wisdom at that time,” Bersamin said in a mix of Filipino and English.

“But then, so many things have happened. The responsibility for education has been shifted to other government agencies. So for everyone to claim that this shouldn’t be included in the education sector just because it’s under the PNP or the AFP—it’s not right, okay,” he added.

Furthermore, Bersamin said DepEd is not the only agency in the education sector; it merely had the “greater portion of the education pie.”

He noted other educational institutions included in the sector, like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), state universities and colleges, and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

“So, the veto that the President made on the DPWH ended with the education having a bigger budget; it complied with the Constitution,” Bersamin explained.

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