DBM: Philippines trails in education, health, welfare spend
MANILA, Philippines — Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman admitted that the government is not yet in a position to fund education, health and social protection at levels that meet international standards.
During the House’s first budget briefing on Monday, August 18, Rep. Chel Diokno (Akbayan Party-list) pressed economic managers on why allocations for these key sectors continue to fall short of global benchmarks.
Int'l standards. He said that the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) allots only 3.5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for education, short of UNESCO’s recommended 4% to 6%.
For social protection, the allocation is just 2.2% of GDP, far below the International Labor Organization’s 5.1% benchmark.
The gap is even wider in health, with only 1% of GDP set aside in the 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) compared to the World Health Organization’s 5% recommendation.
“Bakit po parang paulit-ulit na ang pamumuhunan ng gobyerno natin para sa tao ay kulang? Kulang tayo sa edukasyon, kulang tayo sa kalusugan, kulang tayo sa social protection kumpara sa pamantayan ng ibang mga bansa,” Diokno said.
(Why does it seem that the government’s investments in the people are repeatedly insufficient? We lack education, we lack health, we lack social protection compared to the standards of other countries.)
The executive branch has proposed to earmark 34.1% of the P6.793-trillion budget for the social services sector. This includes education, health and social protection amounting to P2.314 trillion.
DBM's explanation
Pangandaman explained that the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) actually received a budget proposal of over P10 trillion from government agencies.
However, due to “limited fiscal space,” the committee had to trim this down to P6.793 trillion, which is around 7.4% higher than the 2025 budget.
“Hindi po natin kaya pondohan lahat po itong mga standards na ibinibigay ng mga international at development partners,” she said.
(We cannot afford to fund all these standards set by international and development partners.)
Pangandaman added that meeting the recommended GDP shares for each sector all at once would “exceed the government’s budget capacity.”
“Kasi kailangan po nating i-prioritize din po ‘yung mga programang kailangan po natin pondohan. At ‘yan po ay nakapaloob sa Philippine Development Plan at saka sa mga roadmaps ng ating mga departamento,” she said.
(We also need to prioritize programs that must be funded, as outlined in the Philippine Development Plan and the roadmaps of our departments.)
Top allocation for social services
The budget secretary, however, stressed that education remains the executive branch’s top priority for 2026. She said the government “did what it could” to reach close to the 4% share of GDP recommended for basic and tertiary education.
She added that allocations for health, agriculture and social protection have also been increased in the 2026 NEP.
Under the proposed budget, the education sector would receive P1.224 trillion for basic and higher education, while healthcare was allotted P320.5 billion — a 23.6% increase, according to the DBM.
Infrastructure spending, meanwhile, is pegged at P1.556 trillion, mostly for flagship projects, including digital, social and energy initiatives.
Some lawmakers are eyeing a realignment of flood control funds to augment the education budget.
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