The House-approved 2026 national budget bill allots only P90 per student but spends over P4,600 per military personnel daily, Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co said in a speech explaining her no vote on the bill Monday, Oct. 13.
“Kapag hinati ang buong pondo ng DepEd (Department of Education), lalabas na P90.50 lang ang nakalaan sa bawat estudyante araw-araw. Samantala, kung hahatiin naman ang pondo ng SUCs (State Universities and Colleges) at CHED (Commission on Higher Education) sa lahat ng college students ngayon, nasa P100 naman ang nakalaan sa kada estudyante araw-araw,” Co said.
“Pero kapag hinati ang buong budget ng PNP (Philippine National Police), on average, P2,522 ang nakalaan sa pulis kada araw. Kung ikukumpara sa AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), P4,629 kada tao kada araw,” she added.
Criticizing the Marcos Jr. administration’s priorities, Co denounced the government’s underfunding of the education sector over what she called the state’s P738-billion allocation for “fascist” operations.
Before it was submitted to Congress, the 2026 National Expenditure Program proposed the following allocations for state forces: P295 billion for DND, P209 billion for PNP and P8 billion for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which has routinely attacked youth advocates and progressive formations.
Meanwhile, although the Free Higher Education program for SUCs is poised to get an additional P12.3-billion allocation addressing the state’s lapses in tuition funding since 2022, Congress rejected budget amendments proposed by Kabataan to increase funds for 25 SUCs still struggling with budget cuts. The House reasoned the 2026 allocation for SUCs is “enough already.”
READ: Education advocates slam House for rejecting Kabataan’s proposal to hike budget for 25 SUCs
The University of the Philippines System is also expected to receive just slightly over half of its proposed P46.85-billion budget for next year.
With 287 affirmative votes, 12 negative votes and two abstentions, the House approved the proposed P6.793-trillion budget for 2026 on its third and final reading.
