For smarter students, not for Facebook

More debt, less room for Filipinos

The peso is falling. Inflation is rising. And the government is preparing to spend P7.2 trillion next year. At some point, the numbers stop being economic abstractions and become a question of accountability.

October inflation hit 7.8 percent, up from 7.2 percent in September. The peso, meanwhile, has breached P64 to the dollar, far beyond the P60-to-P62 exchange rate assumed in the 2027 national budget.

A weaker peso may boost customs collections and inflate the peso value of certain revenues. But it also makes foreign debt payments, imported fuel, and infrastructure equipment more expensive.

The government could collect more and still end up with less.

A projected P1.69-trillion deficit leaves little room for complacency. If debt servicing eats further into public funds, who pays for the adjustment? The commuter, the consumer, the family waiting for better public services.

Officials cannot celebrate higher peso revenues while ignoring the bills that come with depreciation.

A falling currency is not a revenue strategy. And a bigger budget is not proof that the country is getting richer.

— Jason Mago

When did a big budget become bad news?

In business, a larger budget can signal ambition, expansion, and confidence in the future. Investors welcome spending when it promises greater productivity and measurable returns.

Why should government be fundamentally different?

The proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for 2027 should represent an enormous opportunity to build schools, hospitals, roads, and infrastructure that could transform millions of lives.

Instead, billions in proposed allocations are being scrutinized amid concerns about corruption.

The problem is not necessarily the size of the budget. It is whether the money reaches the projects for which it was appropriated.

A billion pesos for flood control should mean communities protected from flooding. A billion for education should mean better classrooms and learning opportunities.

But when projects exist only on paper, are overpriced, or serve political interests rather than public needs, spending becomes a liability instead of an investment.

Nor should bigger always mean better. Government spending must remain affordable, justified, and measurable.

The tragedy is that corruption can make necessary public investments appear suspicious before construction even begins.

A nation’s ambition should not be measured by how much money its government appropriates, but by how much public good that money actually delivers.

— Carl Magadia

Tables, not apples

The Department of Education (DepEd) has procured 172,000 Apple MacBook Neo laptops worth over P7.4 billion, with 169,000 units for public school teachers and 3,000 for administrative personnel.

The DepEd proudly announced it secured the laptops for P43,000 each, P6,000 below the retail price and with a five-year warranty.

It’s appreciated, of course. Spending billions on laptops for teachers suggests the government values their work.

But hear me out.

You do not give teachers struggling in overcrowded, poorly ventilated classrooms a golden projector. You give them something that actually eases their burden.

More classrooms. More tables and chairs. Better ventilation. Bigger transportation allowances. Better yet, higher salaries.

Teachers are not necessarily demanding high-end laptops. They are demanding decent working conditions.

Technology matters. Some teachers need better devices. But must they come with a premium price tag when cheaper alternatives could do the job? A good deal does not necessarily mean a good decision.

This is where DepEd’s priorities become questionable. The issue is not simply how much the government spends, but what problems it chooses to solve.

My mom has been a public school teacher for as long as I’ve been alive.

She needs a manageable student-teacher ratio, fewer non-teaching tasks, relief from physical and mental pressures, and, above all, a salary that reflects the importance of her job — not another iCloud account to set up.

The DepEd may have bitten into the wrong apple.

— Vivienne Angeles