THE Department of Education (DepEd), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said P31.22 billion was available to fill 64,530 teaching posts, clarifying the reported zero funding for hiring public school teachers under the proposed 2027 national budget.
The National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2027 did not propose the creation of new Teacher I posts but this did not mean that the DepEd could not hire teachers for that year, the two departments said.
“Let us be clear: the hiring of teachers will not stop. 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,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said in Filipino and English.
The DepEd and DBM said that of the 64,530 teaching posts funded for filling, 31,614 were existing vacancies logged in the Government Manpower Information System as of Aprril 24, while the 32,916 “were newly created and approved by” the DBM in May 2026.
The statement said that the DepEd’s subsequent personnel audit showed “continued progress in filling” teaching posts.
“As of Sept. 4, 2026, DepEd reported that 33,250 teaching positions had already been filled, while 25,019 remained unfilled. For teaching positions newly created in 2026, DepEd... reported that 22,649 had already been filled, with 8,733 still unfilled,” it read.“We understand the continuing need for more teachers, and we will continue working with DBM and Congress as enrollment, class size, subject requirements and conditions on the ground evolve. But while that discussion continues, we already have vacant positions now that can be filled,” Angara said.
The clarification came amid the reported noninclusion in the NEP of the DepEd’s request for 14,274 additional teaching posts. The two departments emphasized that these posts referred “to a further proposed batch of additional positions, separate from the 64,530 authorized teaching positions already funded for filling, which may later be evaluated once gaps are still identified even if the authorized existing vacancies are filled.”The proposed 2027 budget provided P7.58 billion “for the hiring of substitute teachers to help ensure uninterrupted classroom instruction when regular teachers are temporarily unavailable.” Substitute teachers, the statement said, “may be tapped when regular teachers are on maternity or other authorized leave, attending training and professional development activities or temporarily unable to report for other authorized reasons.”
The statement said that recently, the DBM released over P8 billion “for the salary differentials of 93,344 qualified public school personnel whose positions were reclassified under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System... The release supports the payment of salary adjustments corresponding to their reclassified positions.”
The departments also said the proposed 2027 budget provided over P12 billion for the ECP System and that the funding targeted 135,063 position reclassifications.
“Under the ECP, qualified teachers no longer have to wait for a vacancy in a higher position before they can progress. The system provides expanded career lines from Teacher I through Teacher VII and Master Teacher positions, based on merit and competence,” they said.