Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday called for stronger and more drastic efforts to address the declining school enrollment in the Philippines and its link to child stunting, highlighting the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) where high dropout and child stunting rates pose challenges to children’s education, health, and development.
“Sa BARMM, 8% ang dropouts. If you look at the stunting rate, lumalagpas ng 30% at halos umaabot ng 40% sa BARMM. Tapos you look at the dropout rate, it’s a recipe of disaster in the next 5 to 10 years in BARMM,” Cayetano said during the October 16 hearing on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) proposed 2027 budget.
Cayetano, who has long advocated for education reform and efforts to address child stunting, said the condition – impaired growth caused by chronic undernutrition during early childhood – can have lifelong effects on a child’s physical growth, cognitive development, and future productivity. Barriers to education can further limit children’s opportunities for development.
While acknowledging the limitations of national government intervention given BARMM’s autonomous status, Cayetano emphasized the importance of working with regional authorities and other partners to address the challenges facing children in the region.
“I do know that there is a limitation on what we can do given the autonomy (of BARMM), but I do know that they are always looking for partners… Highest din kasi sila (BARMM) sa stunting and illiteracy. Not only is this a recipe for poverty and future problems, but also for extremism especially with their trauma pa from the Marawi siege. There are certain things, like work, (that) you can skip. But this (dropping out) is different,” he said.
He recalled a past government program in which school dropout rates became lower when free uniforms and notebooks were distributed to students and urged for DepEd to do a similar special project for BARMM.
Radical change needed
Cayetano also raised concerns over the reduction in funding for the school-based feeding program, from P25 billion to P11.43 billion in the 2026 General Appropriations Bill. He asked Education Secretary Sonny Angara how efforts to address child stunting could be sustained amid the proposed funding cut, particularly among children who need nutritional support.
“I believe your father (the late Senator Edgardo Angara) was one of those who, like my father (the late Senator Rene Cayetano), pounded it into our heads that if we keep doing the same thing and expecting different results, it won’t happen. But what our parents pounded into us is that sometimes you have to have a radical change,” he said.
Cayetano also cited declining national school enrollment as further context for the challenges facing education.
“Nabahala lang ako kasi if you look at the graph on the enrollment, we went from 22.6 million (enrollees) n’ung 2019 to 22.7 million (enrollees) in 2020. Just as the pandemic was easing in 2021 to 2022, 24 million students (enrolled). But in 2023 it started going down drastically, 23.2 million na lang ang nag-enroll,” Cayetano said, citing national figures from DepEd’s Education Management Information System Division (EMISD).
He noted that nationwide enrollment continued to decline in the succeeding years post-pandemic. “In 2024 to 2025, 22.5 million na lang ang nag-enroll. Then in 2025-2026, 22.1 million. Parang pababa ng pababa y’ung enrollment,” he said.
Cayetano urged DepEd to identify priority areas for funding and pursue practical, targeted interventions that could improve education outcomes despite budget constraints.
“Secretary Sonny, what we can do to help is to look for the P51 billion (additional budget for the agency). But you have to help us, where is it most needed?” he told the Education Secretary.
“Let me leave this challenge to all of us… How do we drastically improve our education system given the limited funds? What are those best ideas? I hope it will come out here in the Senate,” he said. ###