Manila: In response to a clarion call from the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines, the government has pledged substantial funding to address what Church leaders have described as a national emergency in child nutrition and education.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) confirmed in an August 14 letter to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that it has initiated concrete measures to tackle the issues raised by the bishops. DBM Undersecretary Margaux Salcedo revealed that more than ₱1 billion (roughly US$17 million) was released in April to set up Child Development Centers across 328 local government units. By June 2025, 182 centers were already operational. Priority is given to low-income municipalities flagged by the Department of Education, in line with recommendations from a congressional commission on education reform.
Beyond infrastructure, the government is targeting stunting and undernutrition, which affect over a quarter of Filipino children under five. The 2026 national budget includes an 18 percent increase in funding for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Supplementary Feeding Program, now at ₱6.1 billion. The Department of Education will also receive ₱11.8 billion for its School-Based Feeding Program, set to provide meals for more than three million primary school pupils.
To ensure transparency and efficiency, the DBM has unveiled a Child Budget and Expenditure Tagging and Tracking system, developed in collaboration with UNICEF and the European Union. Salcedo emphasized that this mechanism will harmonize investments and establish a sustainable, child-focused public financing framework.
Looking ahead, the education sector is slated to receive a record ₱1.224 trillion (US$21 billion) in 2026, meeting UNESCO’s recommended spending of 4–6 percent of GDP and aligning with global standards of allocating 15–20 percent of government expenditure to education.
The DBM’s assurances came after the CBCP released a pastoral statement following their 130th plenary assembly in Anda, Bohol. In their letter, titled “Call to Immediate Action: Responding to the Crisis in Nutrition and Early Childhood Development,” the bishops warned of worsening malnutrition, stunted growth, and educational gaps. According to the Second Congressional Commission on Education, 26.7 percent of Filipino children under five are stunted, a figure above the global average, and progress has stalled since 2000.
The bishops also highlighted alarming deficiencies in early childhood care: only 21 percent of children aged three to four participate in early learning programs, and thousands of barangays still lack child development centers despite a law mandating them since 1990. They reported that nearly half of Grade 1–3 students are unprepared for their grade level, 80 percent of Grade 3 students struggle with basic math, and 30 percent are not functionally literate.
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, CBCP president, underscored that children’s welfare is both a moral obligation and a national imperative. “To delay, ignore, or fail to respond to the basic needs of our children is to delay the progress of our nation’s future,” he said. The bishops called on the government to fully fund nutrition and early childhood programs and establish development centers in every barangay, prioritizing low-income areas.
With these commitments, Manila aims to turn the tide on one of the nation’s most pressing crises, ensuring that children’s health and education are no longer sidelined in the pursuit of national progress.