President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. expressed hope that the long-term reforms being pursued in the country’s education system will become firmly institutionalized—establishing quality education as an unquestionable right that Filipinos can demand even beyond his administration.

“Education is one of those things that I hope we can get started in such a way na kahit wala na ako dito, kahit na wala na kami dito, my administration is no longer here, that this will continue, masanay ang tao so that it becomes a right. And if it is taken away from you, you can demand for it to be brought back,” President Marcos said in the latest BBM Podcast aired on Thursday.

In a casual discussion with college students, the President reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to strengthening the country’s education system, aligning with the government’s priorities in the proposed 2026 education budget.

President Marcos gave assurance that state universities and colleges would not be left behind in the education sector, given the record-high PhP1.38 trillion education budget in the proposed 2026 national budget.

“First of all, hindi napapabayaan ang SUCs. The budget for the maintenance and the continued operation of our SUCs is PhP185 billion…The rest of the funding is going to go to talagang primary (education). Para kang nagpapatayo ng bahay, ‘yung pundasyon natin napakahina,” the President said.

President Marcos noted that the education sector had been neglected for a long time, as evidenced by the nationwide shortage of classrooms.

“Na-neglect natin yung education napakatagal. Biruin mo, we have a 160,000 shortage of classrooms. How did that happen? Paano if they did, if they built 20,000 classrooms every year for the last 30 years, wala tayong problema. So kailangan natin maghabol. So we are spending it number one, of course, on classrooms,” the President said.

President Marcos vowed to address all the concerns in the education sector, including classrooms, support for teachers, and students’ equipment.

“And we are finding all kinds of ways to build classrooms more quickly. Yung support natin sa teacher. Equipment, computer, wala tayong computer. Ang dami pang eskwelahan walang internet,” the President added.

President Marcos stressed that the government is addressing every aspect of the country’s education system — even the most basic school facilities — to ensure that learning environments are conducive and functional.

“Down to the toilet in the school. Hanggang doon kailangan natin ayusin lahat,” the President said. | PND