Rowegie Abanto

Students of Pinyahan Elementary School, supervised by their respective teachers, initiate their 'Catch-up Fridays' program by reading storybooks inside their classrooms on January 12, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

Students of Pinyahan Elementary School, supervised by their respective teachers, initiate their 'Catch-up Fridays' program by reading storybooks inside their classrooms on January 12, 2024. The Department of Education has designated all Fridays starting  January 12 and throughout the school year as Catch-up Fridays, focusing on operationalizing the National Reading Program (NRP) in the first half of the day’s schedule and on fostering Values, Health, and Peace Education in the second half, to address learning gaps among grade school and high school students. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

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2026 education budget to meet 4 percent of GDP

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175488191530020240112-catch-up friday-pinyahan-elementary-school-MT-15.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">Students of Pinyahan Elementary School, supervised by their respective teachers, initiate their &#x27;Catch-up Fridays&#x27; program by reading storybooks inside their classrooms on January 12, 2024. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA —  The budget for the education sector for next year will meet 4 percent of the country&#x27;s gross domestic product (GDP), Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Monday, ahead of the executive department&#x27;s submission of the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) expected this month.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/8/7/philippine-gdp-growth-quickens-to-5-5-percent-in-second-quarter-1009">Philippine GDP growth quickens to 5.5 percent in second quarter</a></div><p>Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, told ANC that this is equivalent to about P1 trillion, noting that the 2026 national budget will be an &quot;education budget.&quot; </p><p>The Constitution requires Congress to assign the &quot;highest budgetary priority to education.&quot;</p><p>Meanwhile, the United Nations recommends governments to allocate at least 4 to 6 percent of GDP and at least 15 to 20 percent of total public expenditure to education.</p><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAFz86TOfDIfqXIe&amp;cid=ABeNcHcPgq8Rq3BL"></script><p>The UN said this is to protect public education budgets from the &quot;constrained fiscal environment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic crisis.&quot;</p><p>In the 2025 appropriation, the Department of Education (DepEd) saw its budget <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/15/wrap-cuts-to-deped-philhealth-as-2025-budget-bill-nears-finish-line-2124">slashed by around P12 billion</a>, which gutted its computerization program.</p><p>The 2026 budget for education is expected to help the nation &quot;catch up&quot; on problems hounding the sector, said Gatchalian, who chaired the basic education committee in the previous Congress.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/6/27/2026-national-budget-set-at-p6-793-trillion-1021">2026 national budget set at P6.793 trillion</a></div><p>Gatchalian said he would be &quot;working closely&quot; with Education Secretary Sonny Angara, noting that the two of them were part of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), a national commission tasked to conduct a comprehensive assessment and performance evaluation of the Philippine education sector.</p><p>&quot;We know the problems, but we need to support him (Angara) with budget,&quot; the lawmaker said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/3/miseducation-produced-millions-of-functionally-illiterate-filipinos-gatchalian-1300">Miseducation produced millions of functionally illiterate Filipinos — Gatchalian</a></div><p>In a separate statement Saturday, Gatchalian said the 2026 budget will focus on going back to the basics by strengthening literacy and numeracy from Kindergarten to Grade 3.</p><p>He also said there was a need to fund the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program and proposed the revival of the counterpart program, where the national government and local government units share the cost of classroom construction.</p><p>Gatchalian, in the interview ANC, announced that they would be empowering DepEd to do &quot;all modes&quot; when it comes to classroom construction: Public-Private Partnership (PPP), &quot;counterparting&quot; with the local government units, and even with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), &quot;as long as they reach their targets.&quot; </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/8/-one-college-tesda-graduate-per-family-marcos-says-education-will-be-gauge-of-admin-s-success-1945">‘One college, TESDA graduate per family’: Marcos says education will be gauge of admin’s success</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pCZf7p4lFmQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said that the 2026 national budget will be an "education budget."</p>

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said that the 2026 national budget will be an "education budget."

Education budget for 2026 to reach 4 percent of GDP: Gatchalian

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Education budget for 2026 to reach 4 percent of GDP: Gatchalian

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 11, 2025 12:40 PM PHT

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Updated Aug 11, 2025 01:05 PM PHT

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