EDCOM 2 Communications

An EDCOM 2 bill filed by EDCOM 2 Commissioner Representative Francisco “Kiko” Benitez seeks to align early childhood education and basic education in the Philippines.  Asked during a Rappler interview what the intentions of the law are, Rep. Benitez said that “the first is obviously an alignment between the expectations from DepEd, and what we…

The use of the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) Higher Education Development Fund must be balanced between private and public higher educational institutions (HEIs). This is the call of EDCOM 2 (Second Congressional Commission on Education) Commissioner Senator Joel Villanueva to CHEd during the agency’s budget hearing on Monday.  “96% ng [HEDF] ay nasa public,…

EDCOM 2 (Second Congressional Commission on Education) Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian noted that the share of the poorest scholars under the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) program has continuously declined since 2018.  “The law is very clear on prioritization. We should prioritize Listahanan and 4Ps because they’re the poorest of the poor. But over the years,…

The University of the Philippines named 23 researchers as President Edgardo J. Angara (UPPEJA) Fellows in a ceremony held today, September 26, 2023, attended by UP President Angelo Jimenez, EDCOM 2 Co-Chairpersons Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Representative Roman Romulo, and EDCOM 2 Commissioners Senator Sonny Angara, Senator Pia Cayetano, Senator Joel Villanueva, and members of…

EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson and Senate Basic Education Committee Chair Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and EDCOM 2 Commissioner Senator Joel Villanueva flagged that the government wasted an estimated P2.77 billion on community-based TESDA scholars that did not undergo assessment.  “If you look at the data…community-based ay napakalaki ng total, eh.”, Villanueva said, pointing out that, according to…

EDCOM 2 Commissioner Senator Joel Villanueva noticed that, while the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) touts that 8 out of 10 TESDA graduates are employed, most of them earn below minimum wage.  “If this trend will continue to go on, we’re only allowing them to land jobs below minimum wage and there’s no…

Senate Committee on Basic Education Chairperson and EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday raised the issue of the DepEd’s learning camp project not capturing those students who need it the most.  “I have had the opportunity to look at the National Learning Camp…My initial reaction is that it seems to me that the…

Senator Pia Cayetano on Monday urged the Department of Education to explore ways to deliver learning materials to students.  “Since 2012, the only grade levels that had complete textbooks were Grades 5 and 6…Otherwise, no textbooks ang [Kinder], [Grades] 1-3 – talagang none – very few sa Grade 10, and none in Grade 7”, Cayetano…

EDCOM 2 Commissioner Senator Joel Villanueva flagged the shortage of teachers and the backlog of unfilled positions within the Department of Education, during the Senate committee on finance on the department’s proposed 2024 budget.  “There are 43,014 unfilled positions [in the Department of Education]. From 2022 to 2023, out of 46,000 unfilled positions, only 3,415…