THE Second Congressional Commission (EDCOM 2) endorsed five amendments to augment the Department of Education’s (DepEd) budget in 2025.
During the Senate Plenary hearing on the 2025 General Appropriations Bill held on November 7, EDCOM 2 Commissioners pushed for special provisions to increase the budget for the Teacher Education Council (TEC) and the Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) operationalization, to augment funds for school building construction, and to increase the budget for early childhood education facilities throughout the country.
Boosting budget for educ bodies
EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Commissioner Senator Koko Pimentel appealed for additional funding to the DepEd to fully operationalize two critical educational bodies: the TEC and the PQF Secretariat.
The TEC, which is tasked with enhancing teacher quality by aligning training and certification with the demands of the classroom, is seen as vital to addressing the teacher quality issues in the country’s education system.
However, Gatchalian manifested that TEC had requested an additional 58 million pesos for personnel and operation costs that was not carried in the current Committee Report.
“I really believe this is a low hanging fruit, and an immediate reform in terms of strengthening and empowering our teachers, especially when it comes to training, and also in locating good potential teachers to come into the system”, Gatchalian said.
“The TEC has a lot of power to improve the teaching capabilities of our education system,” he added, pointing to the urgent need to strengthen the training pipeline for teachers.
Also discussed was Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) Secretariat, a key element in maintaining a standardized qualification framework across industries and educational institutions. Senator Gatchalian noted that the PQF Secretariat has been mandated by law since 2017 but remains under-resourced.
“[This issue] is close to the heart of [EDCOM 2 Commissioner] Sen. Joel Villanueva…to fully operationalize the PQF, as mandated by law in 2017. They also requested an additional PhP 35 million…to hire additional personnel so that they can beef up their team”, Gatchalian said. He highlighted the longstanding calls for its operationalization, adding, “This operationalization of the Secretariat has been delayed for many, many years”.
Increase the budget for early childhood programs, school buildings
The hearing also addressed urgent needs in early childhood education. Senator Pia Cayetano highlighted the continued delay in constructing Child Development Centers, particularly in 48 barangays across fifth- and sixth-class municipalities that currently lack such facilities.
Meanwhile, Sen. Koko Pimentel noted that the Commission also pushed for a “special provision for the National Certificate III for early childhood education under TESDA”. In response, Cayetano mentioned TESDA Director General Kiko Benitez’s commitment to create a National Certification for Early Childhood Education. “We will now be certifying senior high school students who are interested in an education track to have qualifications to run this, or eventually…become full [early childhood teachers]”, she said.
Sen. Pia also committed to support a budgetary provision under the National Nutrition Council, to fund nutrition interventions for the first 1,000 days. “It was one of the items which I was also supporting while I was still in EDCOM 2”, she said. The lady senator was a Commissioner of EDCOM 2, where she advocated for measures to improve early childhood care and development and basic education.
Meanwhile, EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, through a manifestation delivered by Sen. Pia, emphasized the need to increase the DepEd’s Basic Education Facilities program. “[The program] plays an important role in the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of school buildings and facilities in the country,” he said, emphasizing studies that have shown that school infrastructure significantly impacts children’s enrollment, attendance, completion rates, and learning achievements.
Cayetano, noted that, despite these findings, the budget for the Basic Education Facilities Program was slashed by PhP 2 billion in the General Appropriations Bill. “This representation will do our best, and hope to at least restore PhP 1 billion. If our colleagues will join me, then let’s try to restore the entire PhP 2 billion”, Sen. Pia said.
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