Over 20,000 DepEd teaching positions still vacant, says lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has yet to fill over 20,000 teacher vacancies as well as an undisclosed number of non-teaching positions, a House lawmaker said on Tuesday.

During the House sponsorship and plenary deliberations on DepEd’s proposed 2027 budget, ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio asked Davao de Oro Rep. Maricar Zamora, who is the agency’s budget sponsor, about the current status of vacant teaching positions.

Zamora said that under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the DepEd created 31,428 positions, with 22,711 teaching positions already filled.

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READ: Over 32,000 new teaching positions approved for school year 2026-27

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On top of the 8,688 unfilled positions as of June 30 this year, there were also 12,646 vacant positions from previous years. “In total, we have around 20,000 unfilled positions based on June 30, 2026 data,” she added.

Asked why this was the situation despite the long list of registered qualified applicants just waiting to be hired, Zamora cited “hard to fill positions” and factors such as the waiving of beneficiaries under special hiring guidelines and the lack of qualified applicants for appropriate specializations.

Tinio also recalled that during DepEd’s presentation during the House committee on appropriations’ budget briefing, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said there was no funding for hiring new teachers in 2027.

Angara requested an additional P49.16 billion for its “personnel improvement” program, including P4.29 billion for hiring 14,274 teachers.

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When Tinio asked if the DepEd would not ask for new items to sustain the hiring of teachers, Zamora said that the agency’s hiring is ongoing until next year.

“This is because the allocation, the appropriation given to the department from the 2026 GAA is still being implemented starting this year and the hiring is still until next year. Therefore, there is no such thing as we stopped the hiring but we are still hiring as we speak,” she explained.

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Zamora also said that around 131 classrooms would be built for last-mile schools next year under a proposed budget of P1.9 billion following the passage of a law that institutionalizes government support for those found in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas. /cb