Government urged to redirect Cha-cha funds to boost education system

MANILA, Philippines — A teachers’ group has called on the government to prioritize increasing teachers’ wages and building new classrooms instead of allowing foreign ownership of schools through amendments to the Charter.

With the House of Representatives' recent second reading approval of Resolution of Both Houses 7 — which relaxes foreign ownership restrictions in basic and higher education, among other economic amendments — Alliance of Concerned Teachers Chairperson Vladimer Quetua said that the government should redirect its funds for Charter change to addressing its shortage of over 100,000 classrooms.

Quetua described the projected cost of holding a Charter change plebiscite as a “stark misallocation of resources” at a time when teachers and students are dealing with “overcrowded and inconducive learning environments." 

Both Charter change resolutions in the House and the Senate (Resolution of Both Houses 6) aim to relax foreign ownership restrictions in the education sector. Pro-Charter change lawmakers argue that the the amendments will attract more foreign universities to the country, but education experts are concerned that the Philippines’ reputation for diploma mill schools could instead bring in low-tier universities from abroad.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who has been vocal about his support for economic amendments to the Charter, said that he would like the Charter change plebiscite to be synchronized with the 2025 midterm polls to cut down on costs.

“Even Marcos Jr. himself admits that holding a plebiscite for ChaCha is impractical and costly,” Quetua said.

“Instead of wasting time pushing for ChaCha, which will only expose our economy further to foreign interests, the Congress should prioritize legislation of bills on increasing wages, granting workers and employees the much-needed economic relief amid the crisis, and resolving the worsening learning loss,” he said.

The ACT chairperson also said that it was “appalling” that the budget for education is “being scrimped despite the enormity of backlogs and shortages.”

“Teachers and all other employees and workers are also being scrimped with measly wage increases and benefits, yet funds can be