MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) will not be able to hire new public school teachers next year after its recruitment program was left unfunded in the agency’s proposed budget, its secretary, Sonny Angara, said on Monday.

Asked at a congressional budget hearing if funding for hiring new teachers in 2027 had been zeroed out, Angara said: “Yes.”

“Unfortunately, there was none,” he told lawmakers in mixed English and Filipino. “But we’re hoping that it will be hiked in the course of the budgetary process.”

DepEd was earmarked P973.40 billion under the 2027 National Expenditure Program, 3.87 percent lower than its P1.01-trillion funding this year.

Angara’s presentation to lawmakers showed that the agency had requested an additional P49.16 billion for its “personnel improvement” program, including P4.29 billion for the hiring of 14,274 teachers.

“This is part of the wish list,” he said.His appeal comes as legislators review the P7.2-trillion spending plan. Congress is the final arbiter and can cut or tweak funding at its discretion, leaving the door open for amendments to DepEd’s budget proposal.

Angara said DepEd hires an average of 20,000 teachers a year, noting that the agency received enough funding to hire 32,000 teachers for 2026.

“We got 32,000 this year, which is above the average hiring \[average\],” he said.

Besides funding for Teacher I posts, Angara also requested P16.64 billion for hiring 39,428 Project Development Officer I staff and P10.52 billion to fund 14,126 School Principal I posts.

DepEd zero budget for new teachers(will not hire)