The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday said it is eyeing tighter collaboration with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of Finance (DoF) to efficiently execute key basic education programs, following the signing of the General Appropriations Act for 2025 on 30 December 2024.

While the education sector secured the largest allocation in the 2025 GAA at P1.055 trillion, DepEd aims to augment funding through unprogrammed appropriations and other constitutional mechanisms to support its key programs, including the DepEd Computerization Program.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara expressed optimism about addressing funding gaps, emphasizing the importance of inter-agency cooperation.

“Education remains a top priority for this administration, and we will be working closely with the DBM and DOF to explore funding mechanisms that will enable us to deliver our mandate. Education is everyone's business and we're aiming for closer collaboration,” Angara said.

The DepEd chief then emphasized the roles that DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman and Finance Secretary Ralph Recto will play in securing additional funding for the agency.

“We will ensure that social services, including education as mandated by our Constitution, as well as healthcare, will remain a priority," Recto said.

Pangandaman also noted that additional funding remains a viable path for affected priority programs.

"As long as we have additional revenue from the DoF, we can actually augment or increase the budget of DepEd, specifically for the computerization program," she said.