Student actions fuel education budget hike

The final version of the Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) on the higher education budget for 2026 resulted from student anti-corruption movements, not from the president or “trapos.” 

Kabataan Partylist Representative Renee Co. said the youth walkouts for education and against corruption were what pushed the glass, not the hand of any traditional politician (trapo) or the President himself.

The bicameral committee approved the funding increase on the first day of its open talks for next year’s budget. The Department of Education landed a final budget of P961.3 billion, a P86.8 billion increase from the P874.5 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

According to Co, the increase should not be used by some politicians as a trophy to win votes in the 2028 election; instead, praise the ongoing activism of the youth for their rights. 

“This should not be used as a trophy or a debt of gratitude by a few politicians for their ambition in 2028. This fight by the students has been going on for decades; let us salute and further support the activism and collective action of the youth,” Co said in Filipino.

Co acknowledged the bicameral committee’s commitment to the current direction of the education budget, which includes greater budgetary allocations for Basic Education feeding program and mental health program, boosting construction costs to build 165,000 classrooms for elementary and high school, and boosting scholarship for both college and Technical and Vocational Education and Training students.

Priority funding addressed

The Kabataan partylist commended the Bicam’s commitment to funding various programs that State Universities and Colleges students have demanded, including addressing the P12.3 billion shortfalls in the Free Higher Education Program for 2022-2025, as well as other priority projects and urgent facilities SUCs require.

Despite this, Co points out that such a minimal increase in funding for the education sector is still too little and too late to address and reverse the learning crisis.