THE BICAMERAL panel of the House of Representatives and Senate has reduced funding for the education sector.

Senate Committee on Basic Education Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian confirmed that the proposed budget for the Commission on Higher Education was cut by ₱30 billion.

The bicam panel also did not approve the Senate’s recommendation to add ₱3 billion to the budget for Free Tertiary Education.

Gatchalian further noted that the Department of Education’s budget for next year was cut by almost ₱12 billion.

According to the bicam report, the largest budget cut was imposed on the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Its allocation dropped from over ₱313 billion in the General Appropriations Bill to ₱217 billion in the bicam report, a reduction of ₱95 billion.

The Department of Health’s budget was cut by almost ₱20 billion, while both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor and Employment each lost ₱20 billion.

The Department of Transportation also faced a reduction of ₱16.6 billion.

Notably, the budget for the House of Representatives was doubled, increasing from over ₱16 billion to ₱33 billion.

There was also a recorded increase of over ₱4 billion in the budget for the Department of Information and Communications Technology, along with an additional ₱288 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways.