Marcos wants ample budget for key DepEd projects amid cuts
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is urging substantial appropriations for key programs of the Department of Education (DepEd), which warned that cuts in its 2025 budget could worsen teacher shortages in the country. PHOTO FROM Agence France-Presse/INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged substantial allocations for key programs of the Department of Education (DepEd), which warned that cuts in its 2025 budget could worsen teacher shortages in the country.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said that Marcos met with DepEd officials in Malacañang on Thursday and noted budget reductions in various education projects, although the sector is one of his administration’s top priorities.
“We have to be able to show that that’s (education) the priority,” Marcos said in a PCO press release Friday.
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Article continues after this advertisementCongress approved P737 billion of the P748 billion proposed budget of DepEd for 2025.
Article continues after this advertisementThe slashed allocations were intended to create new school personnel positions and implement the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP) and the Basic Education Facilities Fund.
DepEd said that the reduced budget for the DCP will affect the delivery of learner and teacher tools such as laptops, smart TVs, and satellite-based internet.
The PCO also said DepEd was forced to cancel about P4 billion of the P7 billion worth of DCP projects that already underwent early procurement activities.
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The PCO likewise said that Marcos concurred with the plan of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) to study options to finance its unfunded programs.
The PCO said that although Tesda’s budget rose to P20.73 billion in the 2025 General Appropriations Act from P18.50 billion in the National Expenditure Program, some of its key programs were left without funds this year.
These Tesda projects included the creation of Enterprise-based Training Office and the establishment of New Regional Office for Negros Island Region.