ACT TEACHERS Party-list Representative France Castro denied claims that the education sector will get the biggest chunk of the proposed 2023 national budget.

Castro said debt servicing will get the biggest allocation.

She added that the education budget still falls short of the United Nations suggested 6% of the Gross National Product.

Castro said that P1.35 trillion was allocated for debt servicing through automatic appropriations. The education sector will get P852.8 billion.

“Kung susundin natin ang United Nations at totoong priority ng ating gobyerno ang edukasyon, ang P1.35 na automatic appropriation sa debt servicing ang inilaan nila sa edukasyon,” Castro said.

“Malayong-malayo ang P852.8 billion na sinasabing inilaan para sa edukasyon na paghahatian pa ng DepEd, SUCs, CHED at TESDA sa 6% ng ating GDP,” she added.

“We echo the demands of our teachers, parents, and learners for the government to allocate at least 6% of the GDP to education and repeal the automatic debt servicing,” Castro said.

“We filed House Bill 1783 setting aside at least 6% of the GDP for the DepEd, SUCs, TESDA, and other agencies and instrumentalities with mandates directly related to education, and House Bill 2220 repealing the automatic appropriations for debt service,” she added.