The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) strongly condemns the proposed zero allocation for hiring new teachers and for the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, a program that thousands of teachers have already absorbed into their daily workloads without any additional compensation.
During yesterday’s congressional budget hearing, it was revealed that under the Department of Education’s (DepEd) proposed ₱975.6-billion budget for FY 2027, basic education faces a net budget cut of ₱44.57 billion (-4.64%) compared to the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), alongside zero funding for hiring of teachers and the ARAL Program. Under this proposed budget, the capital outlay funds the construction of only 5,000 new classrooms, with DepEd targeting the actual completion of only 700 classrooms for 2027.
DepEd also revealed that it submitted an unbudgeted “wishlist” containing funding requests for teacher recruitment, the ARAL Program, and other critical programs, vital requirements that should have been fully funded and integrated into the agency’s proposal from the very onset. ACT stressed that this completely fails to address the severe crisis on the ground, which includes deficits of 165,000 classrooms, 150,000 teachers, and more than 300,000 education support personnel.
“Bakit ito bahagi lang ng wishlist? Napaka-basic ng hiring ng teachers at ng pagpapatayo ng mga silid-aralan bilang mga mayor na pangangailangan ng paaralan, pero ito ang walang pondo at nakaasa pa sa mga pagdinig para mapondohan”, ACT Philippines Chairperson Ruby Bernardo stated.
ACT called out DepEd Secretary Angara’s reliance on congressional adjustments after he expressed hope that lawmakers would hike allocations during delibrations. The group emphasized that relying on late insertions exposes government’s total neglect of public education and institutionalizes patronage politics. The group warned that relying on legislative amendments is a systemic trap that turns basic school infrastructure into political “pet projects”.
“Ito mismong sistema ng insertions at amendments ang nagbubukas ng pintuan para sa pork barrel at kickbacks ng mga politiko. Ang paggawang nakatali sa late releases at validation ng mga amendment ang dahilan kung bakit nagtatagal at hinahayaang mabulok ang pagpapatayo ng mga paaralan, habang ginagawang panuhol sa botante ang batayang karapatan ng kabataan.” Bernardo stressed.
The group also highlighted EDCOM 2 findings showing that public school teachers already carry excessive workloads, with 42% working over 50 hours a week due to heavy ancillary duties.
“Sa halip na pondohan agad sa simula pa lang ang mga kailangan ng paaralan, hinahayaang ito maging balon ng korapsyon. Klarong-klaro na hindi totoong prayoridad ng administrasyong Marcos ang edukasyon at ang ating mga guro.” Bernardo emphasized.
ACT challenges both houses of Congress to end the practice of delayed insertions and political amendments. The teachers’ group demands the immediate restoration of capital outlays, increased and direct funding for hiring of teachers and support personnel, the rechanneling of militarization and flood control funds toward social services, and the increase of the education budget to at least 6% of GDP. #
