Senatorial hopeful and Makati Mayor Abby Binay is renewing her call for better implementation of the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Act, stressing that learning should start strong — right from day care — with a structured curriculum taught by properly trained child development workers.

Speaking at a press conference in Quezon City with her fellow candidates from Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, Binay reacted to a troubling report from the Philippine Statistics Authority. The agency revealed that more than 18 million junior and senior high school graduates in 2024 are considered functionally illiterate — meaning they struggle with more than just reading and writing. They also lack the ability to understand, analyze, and use information in real-life situations.

“This is exactly why we need to focus on early education,” Binay said. “Day care isn’t just a place to leave your child while you’re at work. It should have a proper system — a curriculum — and teachers who are trained to implement it.”

Binay emphasized that the Department of Education needs to shift its focus toward the foundational years of learning.

“DepEd always talks about bridging the gap,” she said. “But by the time you’re trying to catch up in later grades, it’s too late. We should be focusing on day care, Kindergarten, and Grade 1 — so that by Grade 3, our kids can read and understand, not just decode words.”