Manila: Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday vowed to ensure that the 2026 national budget would provide the resources needed for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to implement its reform agenda. Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said he would work to align higher education funding with CHED’s priorities, which include addressing the jobs-skills mismatch, promoting internationalization, and strengthening data collection and analytics.

According to Philippines News Agency, CHED recently unveiled its seven-point ‘ACHIEVE’ reform agenda, a 2025-2030 blueprint to address skills mismatches, strengthen innovation, and align higher education with national development goals. CHED chairperson Shirley Agrupis said the program responds to rising graduate unemployment, which jumped from 35.6 percent in December 2024 to 50 percent in mid-2025, and aims to make higher education more accessible, relevant, and globally competitive.

Agrupis stated that the agenda supports the Marcos administration’s eight-point socioeconomic reform program and seeks to ensure that Filipino graduates are equipped for both domestic and international opportunities.