Teachers: Why are PMA, PNPA funds in education budget?

MANILA, Philippines — The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) is reviewing whether the Marcos administration unlawfully lumped military and police academy funds with those of the education sector to meet the required amount under the Constitution.

The TDC said it was speaking with lawyers and Department of Education (DepEd) officials about the matter, stressing how the group was considering a case before the Supreme Court to challenge the legality of 2025 budget.

“We are speaking with lawyers and DepEd officials for information about this. About whether the Supreme Court would favor this because it appears this is a circumvention of the law,” TDC chairman Benjo Basas said in a Teleradyo Serbisyo interview.

The group was questioning how the P1.055-trillion funding for the education sector – which holds the lion’s share of the 2025 general appropriations – included the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) and the Local Government Academy (LGA), which traditionally obtained their allocations from their own agencies.

The PMA and NDCP are under the Department of National Defense, while the PNPA, PPSC and LGA are under the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

Basas said while members of the TDC acknowledge the PNPA, PMA and other schools under non-education agencies are education institutions, they were curious about whether their funding should have been lumped with the education budget.

“We want to know if in the past, have they always been lumped together into what we call the education sector because if not, it appears we’re being deceived here. But we will look into this,” he added.

Basas said the TDC would be convening its members on Thursday to determine the “track” they would pursue to correct the matter.

‘Deceptive’ budget

Meanwhile, House deputy minority leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro and former ACT Teachers representative Antonio Tinio denounced on Tuesday President Marcos’ veto message on the 2025 national budget as a “deceptive maneuver” to create an illusion of constitutional compliance while maintaining cuts to education.

“This veto message is pure deception. The veto of the P194 billion for DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) projects is merely a deception to make it appear that the budget is constitutional because the budget for education is bigger,” Castro said.

Castro said the education budget remains severely inadequate despite the vetoes.

“The education budget should have been set at 6 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) from the start to meet UN (United Nations) standards. Instead, it was slashed by Congress and it cannot be returned whatever veto Marcos did,” Castro said.

“We call on the public to see through this deception. Let us not be fooled by this style of the administration. What our education sector needs is genuine prioritization, not political theatrics,” she added.

For his part, Tinio emphasized that the vetoed items were strategically chosen to maintain an appearance of education prioritization while keeping massive funding for infrastructure and military projects intact.

“This is a big disguise. The administration is trying to fool the public by vetoing certain DPWH projects while keeping the deep cuts to essential education programs,” Tinio said.

“The veto cannot change the anti-education and anti-poor character of the 2025 budget,” he added.

Tinio said the vetoes made by Marcos simply reveal his administration’s “true priorities.”

“This budget and these vetoes reveal the administration’s true priorities – maintaining huge allocations for infrastructure and military spending while shortchanging education,” Tinio said.

“The veto on the DPWH projects is just to show to the public that education is the administration’s priority, but in truth the cut on the education budget can no longer be returned,” he added. –  Jose Rodel Clapano