The Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have clarified reports that the proposed 2027 national budget provides “zero funding” for hiring public school teachers, stressing that P31.220 billion is allocated to fill 64,530 authorized teaching positions. While the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) does not include another batch of new Teacher I positions for creation, DepEd will continue to hire qualified teachers to fill existing authorized vacancies.
Of the 64,530 teaching positions funded for filling, 31,614 are existing vacant positions recorded in the Government Manpower Information System (GMIS) as of April 24, 2026, while another 32,916 positions were newly created and approved by DBM in May 2026. These authorized positions remain available for DepEd to fill and do not automatically expire simply because they were not immediately filled within the year they were created. As of September 4, 2026, DepEd reported that 33,250 teaching positions had already been filled, while 25,019 remained unfilled.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the clarification is important for teachers and applicants who may have been given the impression that government would stop recruiting teachers next year. “Let us be clear: hindi titigil ang hiring ng teachers. We have thousands of authorized teaching positions that DepEd can continue to fill. The immediate task is to get qualified teachers into these vacant positions as quickly as possible and deploy them where they are needed most,” Angara said. He added that DepEd will continue working with DBM and Congress as enrollment, class sizes, subject requirements, and conditions on the ground evolve.
Budget Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon emphasized that there is an important distinction between creating new plantilla positions and hiring teachers for positions that have already been authorized. “It is simply incorrect to conclude from that that there is no funding to hire teachers. Walang panukalang panibagong batch ng Teacher I positions for creation sa fiscal year 2027 dahil habang binabalangkas ang NEP, marami pa ang unfilled vacant teaching positions. That is precisely why we have allotted funding for this. There is P31.220 billion specifically provided for the filling of 64,530 teaching positions,” De Leon said.
The clarification follows reports that DepEd would be unable to hire teachers in 2027 because its request for 14,274 additional teaching positions, estimated at P4.29 billion, was not included in the NEP. DepEd and DBM stressed that these 14,274 positions refer to a separate proposed batch of additional positions and are distinct from the 64,530 authorized teaching positions already funded for filling. The additional request may still be evaluated if staffing gaps remain after existing authorized vacancies are filled.
The proposed 2027 National Budget also provides P7.582 billion for substitute teachers to ensure uninterrupted classroom instruction when regular teachers are temporarily unavailable because of maternity or other authorized leave, training, professional development activities, or other approved reasons. “Hindi puwedeng tumigil ang pagkatuto ng isang bata dahil pansamantalang wala ang kanyang regular teacher. That is why the 2027 budget also provides P7.582 billion for substitute teachers—to help make sure that classrooms remain staffed and learning continues,” De Leon said.
Government is also expanding support for teacher career advancement through the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System. DBM recently released P8.68 billion for salary differentials of 93,344 qualified public school personnel whose positions were reclassified under the ECP. For 2027, the proposed budget provides P12.090 billion for the ECP System, nearly double the P6.148 billion allocated in 2026, targeting 135,063 position reclassifications and expanding opportunities for qualified teachers and school heads to advance and receive corresponding higher compensation.
The proposed budget likewise includes P10.364 billion for the P10,000 Teaching Allowance, covering approximately 1.036 million teaching and teaching-related personnel, and P38.782 billion for benefits under the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers. It also provides P3.018 billion for DepEd personnel training, including P1.864 billion for in-service training and other learning and development programs. Another P840.589 million is allocated for 2,135 non-teaching positions, while P801.583 million is proposed for 2,021 school counseling positions to strengthen administrative and learner support services.
Angara said these investments form part of a broader effort to address teachers’ actual needs, from staffing and workload to promotion, compensation, health, and professional development. “Ang kailangan ng ating mga guro ay hindi lamang dagdag na plantilla sa papel. Kailangan nating punuan ang mga bakanteng posisyon, bilisan ang hiring, bigyan sila ng pagkakataong ma-promote, bawasan ang administrative work, at tiyaking nakukuha nila ang benepisyo at suportang nararapat sa kanila,” he said. De Leon likewise stressed that the measure of the education budget should be the number of teachers actually serving in classrooms, not simply the number of positions listed on paper.
