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Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
December 19, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara met with mayors belonging to the Mayors for Good Governance yesterday as he assured them of transparency in the use of the P961.3-billion budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2026 amid the infrastructure scandal.
“The release of funds will be very transparent. There’s an agreement on how to release the funds from the national government, that’s the beauty of this arrangement,” Angara said.
The Mayors for Good Governance was led by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
Angara also gave assurance that the P961.3 billion budget will fund priority projects.
“This is what they really want, school buildings, feeding programs, learning quality outcomes. That’s what’s important to the locals and their communities,” Angara added.
During the dialogue, Magalong said national agencies should be more responsive to the needs of the local government units (LGUs).
“We need to improve our procedures on decentralization. It can’t be just the central office dictating the policies,” Angara said.
Under this partnership, the LGUs will identify projects to be undertaken by the DepEd.
“We’ll work with them. We have a list of schools needing classrooms. Of course, there are priorities. We can’t do it simultaneously. We’ll listen to local governments on their priorities,” Angara said.
Magalong also said that congressmen should not be allowed to meddle with the various programs of the DepEd.
“I questioned why a congressman interfered with the construction of a school. First, they do not attend the school board. They are deeply involved in local governance. When it comes to money, they always meddle,” Magalong said.
Angara added that safety measures will be implemented to ensure that corruption will be prevented in tapping the LGUs in the construction of classrooms.
Belmonte for her part asked for clearer guidance on education-related funds, particularly the use of the Special Education Fund.
“Because sometimes the interpretation is different on how to use it, sometimes we get it, we LGUs, but we don’t use the same funds,” she said.
Belmonte also raised the issue of class suspensions, saying the DepEd and the mayors should work together to establish clearer and consistent guidelines.
“Parents and students grow more anxious when it rains or when it’s hot. These are realities we can no longer ignore,” she said.
At the same time, Belmonte also cited the congestion in schools.
“For us in high urbanized cities, even though we want to create classrooms, we don’t have places to build classrooms. So, what alternatives can we do to solve the congestion problem?” she said.
Teachers back reforms
The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said that it recognized positive developments under the leadership of Angara.
“In relatively short period, the Department has begun to nurture a culture of open dialogue – a welcome shift that allows stakeholders, including teacher groups like ours, to engage with DepEd more constructively and meaningfully,” TDC chairperson Benjo Basas said.
Basas added that the DepEd’s openness has led to several policy improvements that directly respond to long-standing concerns of teachers and school communities, including the adjustments in the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program, changes to the school calendar, clarifications on working hours and key refinements under the Expanded Career Progression program.
Basas also cited the unprecedented rise in the budgets of several critical programs under the leadership of Angara.
Basas urged Angara to support the proposed P15,000 across-the-board pay hike for teachers where at least P210 billion is needed.
“Investing in teachers is far more beneficial to national development than allowing systemic leakages elsewhere to persist,” he said.
