Theme: Empowering the Nation Through Education and Digitalization: Key Reforms, Budget Priorities, and Enabling Strategies 

Speaker: Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman 

The INNOTECH Seminar Series on Education, Innovation and Technology held on September 24, 2025, featured Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), who discussed how public financial management, education investments, and digitalization are being used to support the country’s development priorities. Secretary Pangandaman highlighted the proposed FY 2026 National Expenditure Program of PHP 6.793 trillion, including PHP 1.224 trillion for basic and higher education, equivalent to 4 percent of the country’s GDP. She outlined investments covering school feeding, last-mile schools, alternative learning, education facilities, computerization, additional teaching and non-teaching positions, state universities and colleges, and financial assistance for tertiary education.

Secretary Pangandaman also presented reforms aimed at using technology to improve the transparency, efficiency, and accountability of government spending. These include the Public Financial Management Reforms Roadmap 2024–2028 and the Budget and Treasury Management System, which is intended to support integrated financial management and real-time monitoring of government obligations and disbursements. She also highlighted technology-enabled reforms in government procurement, fiscal transparency, and project monitoring, including the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System, the DBM Budget Analytics Dashboard, public blockchain infrastructure, and Project DIME. Beyond digitalization, she emphasized the importance of collaboration through Program Convergence Budgeting and open governance initiatives, underscoring a whole-of-society approach in which government resources, reforms, and strategies are directed toward meaningful outcomes for citizens, particularly young Filipinos.

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