Message of Senator Legarda | Launching of EDCOM II Final Report | January 27, 2026 | Senate of the Philippines

To my co-chairpersons, Commissioners, our Technical Secretariat headed by Executive Director Karol Mark Yee, and our valued partners and advisers in EDCOM II, our partners in development, magandang hapon po sa ating lahat.

I have said this before, and I will say it again: kapag edukasyon ang inuuna natin, ang buong bansa ang itinataas natin.

We all know that our education sector continues to face serious challenges, from learning poverty and classroom backlogs to teacher shortages and weak links to the labor market. But it is precisely because of these difficulties that we must persist and press forward with reform, not retreat from it.

Education remains our most powerful investment, not only in economic growth, but in social mobility, national resilience, and the dignity of every Filipino child. As the sponsor of Senate Bill No. 1483, I once again thank my colleagues for their support in extending the mandate of the Second Congressional Commission on Education until December 2027. This extension is not merely procedural. It is a reaffirmation of our shared responsibility to place our learners, teachers, and parents at the center of reform, and to give ourselves the time and institutional stability needed to pursue solutions grounded in evidence and lived realities.

Three years ago, we embarked on a journey to confront a crisis. Today, I stand before you to declare that we have reached a turning point. In just a short span of time, through close collaboration between the legislative and executive branches, we have passed landmark laws, secured historic budget increases, and built a unified reform roadmap. These achievements show what is possible when we work together, and they remind us that we can achieve even more if we sustain this spirit of cooperation.

As we submit this Final Report and the National Education and Workforce Development Plan, let us treat them not as endpoints, but as calls to action. Our success will be measured not by the documents we produce, but by the real improvements our learners, teachers, and families experience in their daily lives. Let us move forward with urgency, discipline, and unity of purpose, and sustain the reforms we have begun to build an education system that truly lifts every Filipino child.

Thank you very much.