It will benefit thousands of public school personnel nationwide.
Last Thursday, September 3, Malacañan Palace announced that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the release of an additional PhP8.68 billion to the Department of Education (DepEd).
The said funding, released through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), will support the continued implementation of the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System, with at least 93,344 public school personnel, who were reclassified positions of teachers and principals nationwide, are expected to benefit.
The fund will be used for salary differentials of qualified personnel under the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System for Fiscal Year 2025 and FY 2026.
“Saklaw din ng pondo ang implementation requirements para sa Fiscal Year 2025 at Fiscal Year 2026 para sa mga nabigyan ng Notices of Organization, Staffing, and Compensation Action o NOSCA at appointments,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said.
The ECP System allows public school teachers to advance to higher teaching positions with corresponding salary increases without having to leave classroom teaching for administrative posts.
The said program is in line with the administration’s commitment that no public school teacher will retire at Teacher I, the entry-level position, by providing clearer opportunities for career advancement based on qualifications, experience, and professional growth.
Castro said DBM regional offices will process the funds to facilitate the immediate release of the funds to the corresponding DepEd regional offices.
For Fiscal Year 2027, the administration has proposed PHP12.9 billion for the continued implementation of the ECP System—96.6 percent higher than the program’s funding for Fiscal Year 2026.
Following the announcement, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said, “We welcome the allocation of this fund and we hope that our teachers will feel its benefits as soon as possible. They have worked hard for their professional growth, so it is important that they are also given the recognition and compensation that goes with their career advancement.”
He furthered, “We want our teachers to see a long-term career for them right inside the classroom.”
DepEd noted that it will work with its regional offices and those of the DBM to expedite the release of funds to the regions and the implementation of corresponding salary adjustments.
For the agency, the larger funding will help to continue career pathways that allow more teachers to advance in their profession and receive appropriate compensation.
“When we nurture the careers of our teachers, we strengthen our schools and provide a better future for our learners,” added Angara.
On Monday, Malacañang also disclosed that the DBM is already streamlining process for the timely release of salary adjustments for government employees and public school teachers.
“Sa ilalim ng reporma, hindi na kailangan ng hiwalay na funding request para ma-proseso ang salary adjustments,” Castro noted, adding that the budget department is currently working on the reforms so that government employees will no longer need to wait long for salary deficiency requests.
The DBM alsonsaid government employees and public school teachers do not need separate funding request to process salary adjustments.
Under the planned reform, the initiation of separate funding request will be removed. Instead, once an agency updates its plantilla master list and the DBM detects a salary funding deficiency, the budget department will be able to act on the deficiency and release the required funding.
Castro said the DBM’s objective is to ensure that teachers and other government employees receive their salaries promptly and will also conduct live testing of the new system across various agencies during the fourth quarter of 2026.
For those waiting for their salary adjustments, the government has already expedited the process so that government employees and public school teachers will be able to receive their adjusted salaries.
DBM Acting Secretary Kim Robert de Leon alsp said that their agency is moving to replace the existing request-based process for Personnel Services (PS) deficiencies with a more proactive system that will allow the DBM to determine funding gaps from updated agency plantilla records and release the necessary funds without waiting for a separate request.
De Leon said the DBM is now drafting the formal policy for the new system, with the circular targeted for signing before the end of September.
The reform is particularly significant for public school personnel as the government accelerates the implementation of the Expanded Career Progression (ECP) System for public school teachers, the DBM said.
The proposed DepEd budget for 2027 is set at PHP975.963 billion, including funding for salaries, the PHP10,000 annual teaching allowance, career progression, training, medical allowance, and other personnel benefits and support.
