Manila, Aug. 4 -- Senate Committee on Finance chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday said the 2026 national budget would be designed as an "education budget," aligning with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s State of the Nation Address (SONA) where education was identified as priority.

"This will be an education budget. Napakinggan din natin sa Pangulo natin at doon sa speech niya, malaking portion ay naka-dedicate sa education (We heard from the President and in his speech, a large portion was dedicated to education)," Gatchalian said during the Kapihan sa Senado media forum.

Gatchalian said the Senate is working to raise the education budget to at least 4 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), from its curre...