Angara Meets House Leaders Ahead of Budget Talks

Ahead of deliberations on the Department of Education's proposed ₱928.5-billion budget for 2026, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara met yesterday with Speaker Martin Romualdez and other House leaders for a pre-budget briefing.

- By BELLA CARIASO

The House appropriations panel, chaired by Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing, will discuss on Sept. 3 the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)'s approved National Expenditure Program (NEP) for the DepEd.

Up to ₱28.056 billion has been approved by the DBM for the construction of classrooms and other basic education facilities next year amid the classroom shortage of 165,443.

Based on the NEP or the proposed national budget, ₱13.245 billion of the DepEd's proposed 2026 budget will be allotted for the construction, replacement and completion of kindergarten and secondary school buildings and technical-vocational laboratories.

Another ₱2 billion will fund medium-rise school buildings, followed by ₱56 million for alternative learning system community centers, ₱6.136 billion for school building repairs, ₱2.65 billion for school desks and ₱1.3 billion for school electrification.

Angara earlier said the DBM has agreed to remove the Department of Public Works and Highways' sole authority over building classrooms.

The DepEd is eyeing the leasing of facilities to address the classroom backlog nationwide.