‘Government’s social debt to education reaches P3.7 T’

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine government’s social debt to education has reached more than P3.7 trillion since 1996, the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) announced yesterday.

Social debt, the FDC said, is the government’s unfulfilled obligations to its citizens based on various commitments in its Constitution, laws and standards set by international covenants.

FDC researcher Marc Batac said the accumulated social debt to education was measured based on the recommendation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that governments should spend at least six percent of gross national product (GNP) for education.

“Since 1996, when the Delors Commission submitted its recommendations to the UNESCO pegging its benchmark for public expenditure to education at six percent of GNP, the Philippine government’s social debt to education accumulated to roughly around P3.763 trillion,” Batac said in a press conference in Quezon City.

He noted that no Philippine administration was able to adhere to the benchmark, resulting in the accumulation of the social debt to public education.

FDC also said that government’s social debt is still increasing due to its decision to prioritize debt servicing over vital public services such as education, health and housing.

Data presented by the FDC showed that the Aquino administration spent only 2.2 percent of GNP in the public expenditure for education last year. This was lower than the average spending in most Southeast Asian countries and the regional average in East and South Asia.

The FDC noted that while the Aquino administration’s budget for education was higher in terms of the actual amount, the percentage of education budget based on GNP is still lower than that of the previous administrations.

The group also said that the supposed increase in the budget is partly due to inflation and the increase of students enrolling in public schools.

FDC president Ricardo Reyes urged the government to increase the budget spending on education and follow the six-percent benchmark set by UNESCO.