Davao City Third District Representative Isidro Ungab questioned the alleged inconsistent computation of the education sector budget vis a vis the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the recently signed 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
In a statement of Ungab shared online, he alleged that the computation made by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) during the signing of the 2025 GAA is inconsistent with the previous listings that comprise the education sector.
Ungab also said that at the outset, the executive department of the government through the DBM, submitted to Congress a National Expenditure Program (NEP), Budget of Expenditure and Sources of Financing (BESF), the President’s Budget Message and other documents which shows the listings of top recipients of the 2025 budget.
He added that it also shows the details of the listing of the education sector budget.
He explained that the bicameral conference (bicam) approved 2025 GAA will show that the DPWH got the highest share of the budget in the amount of P1.114 trillion, which is higher than the education sector’s total allocation of P984 billion.
“Only P26 billion was vetoed by the President, which still makes the DPWH the department with the highest allocation of P1.088 trillion compared to that of the education sector,” he said.
Ungab also questioned the inclusion of the salary differential as part of the education sector budget since this has been lumped in the Miscellaneous Personnel and Benefit Funds (MPBF) for a long time, a practice done even before he joined Congress in 2007.
He also said that placing the salary differential under the budget of DepEd and the DPWH may be interpreted as earmarking the said amounts to the two departments.
“Is the new computation intended to skirt the fundamental law, making it appear to be compliant with the Constitutional mandate that education should have the highest budgetary allocation?” Ungab said.
Ungab said this is the first time that adjustments are made, additional items are included and some projects are excluded from the education sector, as well as the DPWH budget.
Ungab also noted that the MPBF with a total appropriation of P163.333 billion in the NEP was reduced by P54.205 billion during the bicam, lowering the approved appropriation to P109.128 billion.
He said of the P109.128 billion, P70.0 billion is for salary/compensation adjustments/differential. If P60.590 billion is earmarked for the education sector and P1.217 billion is earmarked for the DPWH, only the amount of P8.192 billion is left in the MPBF to be shared by all other departments and agencies in the government.
DBM Undersecretary Goddess Hope Libiran clarified in the comment section of Ungab’s post that the computation did not come from DBM.
According to her, the computation came from the Congress Bicameral Conference Committee.
She also explained that in terms of the education sector, it does not solely include the Department of Education (DepEd) but also other academic agencies and institutions like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), state universities and colleges, Philippine Science High School, among others.
“With this, the Constitution says that “The State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education”. It did not specifically say that it is the Department of Education, so we have to consider the entire education sector,” she said.
Libiran also cited the provision of the constitution, section 5(5), Article XIV of the 1987 Constitution says “(5) The State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.”
