Multiply-Ed, a civil society education accountability initiative, hosted a budget accountability forum in Puerto Princesa City on April 25. Conducted alongside its Youth-Led Education Reform Regional Conference (YERC), the forum convened student leaders, teachers and principals from schools covered by Multiply-Ed’s previoud monitoring as well as relevant government duty-bearers.
Joy Aceron, Convenor-Director of Government Watch (G-Watch), opened the forum with budget accountability basics, presenting vertical integration or multi-level monitoring and advocacy as a strategic framework for budget accountability that ensures that the funded government services are actually delivered to citizens. In her remarks, Aceron highlighted the recent flood control plunder, wherein Php332 billion (US$5.53 billion) were allocated for “non-existent” flood control projects.
One of the key takeaways from this controversy is that budget allocation without working accountability at all levels – at planning, authorization, implementation and accountability stages – can mean public resources lost to corruption. According to Aceron, it is not enough that the budget is allocated for crucial programs and services; budget advocates also need to ensure that allocations are actually implemented according to plan, following clear standards and protocols.
During the forum, it was discussed that for this year, 2026, the Philippine government allocated the highest-ever budget for education amounting to Php 1.38 trillion (US23 billion). Because of this huge amount, the Department of Education (DepEd) claims that for the first time in history, the Philippines has finally met the global standard of allocating 4% of GDP to education.
Multiply-Ed, however, argues that the 2026 education budget still does not meet the global standard set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since the government included items that are not strictly for basic education. Multiply-Ed has been pushing for greater transparency, participation and accountability in the budget and prioritization of marginalized learners that continue to be left behind, especially given the big allocation this year,
Humphrey Soriano, who heads Multiply-Ed’s education budget accountability campaign, presented the group’s education budget analysis. In his talk, Soriano underscored the following key observations:
- Personnel services continue to dominate.
- Inclusive-education programs (IPEd, SPED/SNED, Madrasah) have swung sharply.
- Government began “attributing” education-related line items from other agencies.
Soriano also presented the following as the items added by the government to the education budget to claim we reached the 4% global standards:
- education-related infrastructure to be implemented by Department of Public Works and Highways;
- budget for tertiary and vocational education; and
- military and police education.
In contrast, Multiply-Ed asserts that basic education spending should be the sole basis in determining whether a country is able to meet global education standards.
The budget accountability forum also discussed the role of local governments in education, particularly on how they are allocating and spending their Special Education Fund (SEF).
Ms. Maria Jeslyn Amador, Secretariat of Puerto Princesa Local School Board, presented the SEF budget of Puerto Princesa; while Jai Cabarillos of G-Watch presented the recent findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the utilization of the SEF in the School Divisions of Puerto Princesa and Palawan Province.
The forum concluded with a workshop wherein the participants were asked to analyze, using a multi-level analytical framework, why budget-related issues in the education sector persist and came up with suggestions on how citizen action can help address it.
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