The Department of Education (DepEd) is calling for the fulfillment of the constitutional mandate to keep education the highest budgetary priority, arguing that addressing the country’s functional literacy crisis requires funding that matches its expanding responsibilities.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara stressed that while the agency’s mandate has broadened significantly with landmark laws —including those governing the Alternative Learning System, teacher career progression, and mental health —resources have often failed to keep pace.

“While responsibilities grew, resources did not always follow,” Angara said. “We have been spread too thinly. We must reclaim our focus on foundational learning, consistent with the intentions of the first EDCOM in the 1990s.”

This cumulative burden was a central finding presented during the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) hearing on 28 October 2025.

During the hearing, Angara reaffirmed DepEd’s commitment to focus on functional literacy and improved learning outcomes, as directed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., even as the department grapples with multiplied mandates and limited funds.