The Bangsamoro Parliament on Thursday detailed sweeping administrative failures, low performance metrics, and severe supply shortages within its education ministry, one week after the minister was fired over allegations of massive fraud.
The findings by the Committee on Finance, Budget and Management coincided with ongoing deliberations for the 2026 budget.
They follow the removal last week of Mohagher Iqbal, the minister of basic, higher, and technical education, after the Commission on Audit uncovered widespread irregularities in the agency.
Committee findings showed chronic delays in fund utilization. As of 31 August 2025, the ministry had achieved a 75.21 percent allotment rate, but only a 47.81 percent obligation rate and a 44.04 percent disbursement rate.
The ministry holds a P26.49 billion share of the region’s P114 billion total budget for 2026, making it the highest-funded agency in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Mindanao (BARMM).
The report painted a grim picture of education in the region, noting that BARMM’s functional illiteracy rate stands at 38.3 percent, well above the national average of 30.6 percent and the highest in the country.
Furthermore, the region’s higher education dropout rate has reached 90 percent, compared to the national average of 35.39 percent. Only 18.7 percent of college-age students in the region are enrolled in higher education, the lowest participation rate nationwide.
