Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday said that the proposed ₱6.79-trillion 2026 national budget prioritizes education and health, describing it as “an education budget.”
He highlighted that ₱1.38 trillion, or 20% of the total budget, will go to the education sector—meeting for the first time the United Nations benchmark of 4.5% of GDP for education spending.
“It’s the highest in our country’s history,” he said.
The Department of Education will receive ₱992.7 billion, with an additional ₱78.5 billion from the Senate to address learning gaps and the 147,000-classroom backlog.
The budget also includes ₱18.08 billion for textbooks and ₱28.66 billion for the School-Based Feeding Program, expected to benefit over 4.8 million learners.
On health, Gatchalian noted that the Department of Health and PhilHealth will get ₱376.5 billion, including ₱9.3 billion to expand the Zero Balance Billing Program.
“If education is often hailed as the key to our future, health is the foundation that allows us to reach it,” he said.