Angara: 2026 DepEd budget to sustain universal, targeted school feeding

Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara on Monday, Dec. 1, said the 2026 budget of the DepEd will allow the agency to sustain its combined approach of universal and targeted school feeding, as lawmakers approved a significant increase to strengthen the government's efforts to curb undernutrition and support early learning.

- By JEL SANTOS

Angara said the funding boost in the Senate-approved 2026 national budget will enable DepEd to continue providing hot meals to all Kindergarten and Grade 1 learners, while expanding focused feeding for older learners who are wasted and severely wasted.

"We are strengthening the foundation in Kinder and Grade 1, but we are also not abandoning those most at risk in the higher grade levels," he said.

Angara said that if we want children to stay in school, we must ensure they have food in their stomachs and strength in their bodies.

Under the 2026 budget, DepEd said the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) will receive P28.66 billion, more than double its 2025 allocation of P11.78 billion.