DepEd receives P543.

2B in
2017 national budget
The education department's increased budget will fund teachers' salaries, improve basic
educational facilities, purchase instructional materials, and give financial assistance to
students

Rappler.com
Published 6:35 PM, January 12, 2017
Updated 6:04 PM, January 13, 2017

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MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) received the lion's share
of the 2017 national budget at P543.2 billion ($10.97 billion). This is seen to benefit over
21.2 million learners all over the country.

The DepEd's budget will be used primarily to fund teachers' salaries, improve basic
educational facilities, purchase instructional materials, and give financial assistance to
students.

The figure represents an increase of 25% from last year's funding of P433.38 billion
($8.75 billion). It is the biggest allocation among all executive departments in the 2017
General Appropriations Act (GAA). (READ: Briones eyes review of DepEd spending)

Some P19.4 billion ($391.8 million) will go to salaries. According to the Department of
Budget and Management (DBM), this will allow the DepEd to open 53,831 teaching
positions and 13,280 non-teaching posts.

To address the backlog in facilities, P118.8 billion ($2.4 billion) will be used for
construction, repair, and acquiring basic educational needs. It includes 47,492
classrooms and 66,492 sets of school seats for the K-12 program.

The DepEd's budget will also make additional learning resources available. The
department will purchase 55 million textbooks and instructional materials, as well as
equipment for science and mathematics for 5,449 schools.

Partnerships with private institutions to deliver basic education received considerable

funding in this year's budget. The Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in
 Private Education (GASTPE) program will receive P35.8 billion ($722.95 million),
granting financial assistance to over 2.6 million beneficiaries.

'Budget for real change'

The bulk of GASTPE's funds will go to the Voucher Program for private senior high
schools while the rest will support the Education Service Contracting of the department
for those in junior high school and technical-vocational and livelihood specializations.

According to statistics, kindergarten net enrollment rates are expected to jump from
53% to 72%; for elementary, this will rise from 90% to 94%. Enrollment rates in junior
high school see an increase from 68% to 73%, with better implementation of the K to 12
program.

Dubbed "Budget for Real Change," the Duterte administration's first national budget
amounts to P3.35 trillion ($67.61 billion). It is 11.6% higher than the 2016 budget and
represents 21% of the projected gross domestic product (GDP) for 2017. (READ: 2017
budget priorities: Infrastructure, agriculture, peace and order)

The 2017 budget also increased allocation for infrastructure, free education for SUCs,
universal healthcare, and free irrigation for farmers, among others.– Rappler.com

$1 = P49.52

Proposed 2019 Budget to Prioritize Education and Infrastructure

 Print
The proposed 2019 budget, the third budget of the Duterte
Administration, is set to be submitted to Congress onJuly 23, the day
President Rodrigo R. Duterte delivers his third State of the Nation Address
(SONA). The P 3.757 trillion national budget will be the first cash-based
budget of the government, reflecting the urgent need to speed up public
service delivery to the people.

The spending priorities in the President’s Budget for 2019 remain to be

public infrastructure and human capital development. Higher investments
on infrastructure will support economic growth, targeted to reach 7% to 8%
in 2019, create jobs, and spur opportunities in the countryside. Spending
for human capital, such as education, healthcare, and social protection, will
mold the country’s young population into a world-class and competent
workforce capable of sustaining the Philippine’s growth momentum.

“We are sticking to our plan of focusing on Build Build Build and social
services,” said Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno.
“These are the priorities we identified as early as the beginning of our term,
and we will see to it that investments on these sectors are sustained,” he
added.

Proposed 2019 Budget, Top Departments

 The sector with the highest allocation is education, comprised of the
budgets of the Department of Education (DepEd), State Universities and
Colleges (SUCs), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Its cash-
appropriations in the proposed 2019 budget amounts to P659.3 billion,
higher by P72.2 billion or 12.3% than its cash-based equivalent in the 2018
budget.

Consistent with Build Build Build, the Public Works Department (DPWH)
is allocated P555.7 billion, registering a P225.5 billion or 68.3% increase.

Interior and Local Government (DILG) comes in third, with an allocation

of P225.6 billion, higher by P53.3 billion or 30.9%. The bigger allocation will
strengthen local governance, and support the public safety initiatives of the
government.

This is followed by Defense (DND) with a budget of P183.4 billion, an

increase of P46.9 billion or 34.4%. Such an amount will bolster security and
promote peace and order in the country.

Social Welfare, composed of the budget of the Department of Social

Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the budget for Unconditional Cash
Transfers under the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), is fifth with an
allocation of P173.3 billion, higher by P8.9 billion or 5.4%. Funding for
social welfare will support the poverty-reduction efforts and social
protection programs of the government.

Health, which combines the budget of the Department of Health (DOH)

and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), has an allocation
of P141.4 billion. The said budget will enable the government to provide
affordable and accessible healthcare to Filipinos. The said budget is 8.9%
lower than last year’s allocation due to a significant cut in the Health
Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), to give way to fast-moving and
implementation-ready projects given the cash-based budgeting system the
DBM is implementing.

Transportation (DOTr) has the seventh-highest allocation, with a budget

of P76.1 billion, increasing by P35.9 billion or 89.3%. It will address the
need for efficient and comfortable mass transport systems all over the
country, easing the lives of Filipino commuters.

Rounding out the top 10 are the Agriculture Department (DA), the
Judiciary, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The DA has a budget of P49.8 billion, higher by P9.1 billion or 22.4%, to

promote agricultural development and improve the lives of those in the rural
sector.
 Meanwhile, the Judiciary has a budget of P37.3 billion. This represents
a P1.9 billion or 5.4% increase for the swift and fair administration of
justice.

Lastly, the ARMM is allocated P32.3 billion, P7.9 billion or 32.4%

higher than last year. It will support the livelihood, peace and order, and
rural development projects in the region.

“The President’s Budget for 2019 will continue to provide the largest
allocations to the priority development initiatives of the government,” said
the Budget Secretary. “We have not only increased the budgetary
allocations of agencies, but also implemented reforms to speed up the
delivery of essential public goods and services to our citizens,” Secretary
Diokno concluded.

In a country, the government is the one who controls and manage their people to become who they
are. The government shaped its people to become productive and efficient by educating them.
Education is the most important element and that's why the government had put its highest priority to
it.
Everyone has the change of receiving education. There are no terms of conditions to those
who want to educate themselves. The government had provided us with a lot of free education
through out the country either in a form of media or some short free course available somewhere.
For instance, there are a lot of free education TV programme available in our local television or even
radio station perhaps. Also, there are as well some free education course is available in shopping
complex where exhibition of a certain subject is held and everyone is welcome to receive it. Other
than that, the Malaysian Rakan Muda Society is also a form of educaton for teens especially, but
however the government does take some fees for it from people. Nevertheless, this doesn't show
that the government only educates people with money, they also helped to those who can't afford
education in some cases.
Why else does government put high priority for education? Simple answer to that would be
education brings qualifications. Higher education is generally for the smart people is the one who is
going to be the future leader of a country. Obviously the government needs highly educated people
to be the ones who in future will manage to maintain the country's reputation and also improving it.
Furthermore, education is the only way to determine between the good ones and the not so good
ones for the country. This also made it easier to determine between people who are hardworking
and people who are lazy. Imagine if there's no qualification in education, there are no examinations
to classify people, then how does the government going to choose their fu...