MANILA, Nov. 27 -- The proposed 2026 national budget is providing substantial funding to expand free internet access and energize thousands of public schools that remain off-grid.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, said Thursday the spending plan includes PHP5 billion under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for the Free Public Internet Access Program.

He also introduced an amendment to a special provision to ensure that the rollout prioritizes Department of Education (DepEd) schools and state universities and colleges (SUCs).

DepEd is set to receive PHP1.5 billion to improve internet connectivity in public schools, with about 12,000 campuses still lacking access.

For s...