Marcos Jr. inspects San Juan digital learning program

MANILA, Philippines —  President Marcos yesterday led an inspection of San Juan City’s digital learning program at Pinaglabanan Elementary School, where he observed the use of tablets distributed to thousands of public school students and met with presidential scholars.

Marcos was joined by Education Secretary Sonny Angara, San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora and other local officials during the visit, which included a demonstration of how students use the devices inside classrooms connected to fiber optic internet.

The President met with the city’s 105 beneficiaries of the Bagong Pilipinas Presidential Merit Scholarship program – a national initiative that expands access to quality higher education for deserving Filipino learners, funded through the Socio-Civic Projects Fund or SCPF.

“The time will come, it will be sooner than you think. It is time for you to be the ones to run this country. It is really important for you to be ready, that you should have a good training,” Marcos told the scholars.

After the meeting, Marcos led the distribution of school bags, supplies and tablets to selected students

The nationwide rollout began this week in Rizal, Cebu and Davao Oriental, bringing reading materials and learning resources directly into classrooms and helping ensure that children start the school year with the tools they need to build strong literacy foundations.

More classrooms

Meanwhile, Angara said the Department of Education is accelerating efforts to address the country’s classroom shortage by fast-tracking the utilization of funds under the 2026 budget.

Angara said P36.22 billion covering 10,488 classrooms in 2,437 school sites nationwide is already moving through the implementation pipeline. The amount is part of the P58.43-billion budget covering 21,714 classrooms.

He added that P17.27 billion has been approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), while additional funding releases are under process. –  Alexis Romero