CAGAYAN de Oro City — About 200,000 fewer scholarship slots could be available under TESDA’s 2027 program as the agency faces a sharp budget cut, unresolved land issues and the continued departure of skilled graduates for jobs abroad.

Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Francisco “Kiko” Benitez said the agency is appealing to Congress to restore its proposed 2027 funding, with budget deliberations still ongoing.

TESDA’s proposed budget under the 2027 National Expenditure Program is P20.9 billion, down 46 percent from the P39 billion the agency requested and 20 percent lower than its P26-billion budget this year.

Its scholarship budget was reduced to a net P14.4 billion from P19 billion this year.

Benitez said the lower funding could reduce scholarship slots to about 400,000 from the 630,000 targeted for 2026, with higher-level diploma programs likely to absorb much of the reduction.

“Kulang po kami sa aming scholarship budget,” Benitez said, noting that TESDA had produced a little less than 300,000 graduates as of July to August against its 2026 scholarship target.

Beyond the budget cut, Benitez said TESDA is also dealing with property and land tenure issues affecting some of its training centers.

Some facilities still carry titles under the former Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), limiting what TESDA can do with the properties.

“It’s an expensive proposition to have the facilities,” Benitez said.

He said TESDA is also working to rationalize maintenance and other operating expenses of its training centers and schools. Much of the equipment in the facilities is already old, he added.

Another concern is the growing number of TESDA-certified graduates who leave the country for work.

“TESDA training is not meant for you to go abroad,” Benitez said. “TESDA training is for you to serve within the local economy.”

“Our primary lookout is local employment,” he added.

Benitez said TESDA surveys show an average employability rate of about 80 percent, although the data may lag by one to two years because surveys are conducted after graduation.

The agency is developing its skills passport and Find a Job portal and revising its graduate surveys to better track the type of jobs graduates obtain and whether having multiple skills improves their employment prospects, he said.

The 80 percent figure, however, differs from findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EdCom II), which reported that only 38 percent of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates had landed jobs six months after completing their studies.

Benitez was in Cagayan de Oro to attend the 2026 TVET Mass Graduation of 1,803 graduates at the Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. Convention Center and the 25th Human Resource Skills Development Conference organized by the Mindanao Technical-Vocation Association Inc. (MinTVET).

Atty. Roy G. Dela Cruz, a MinTVET board member, said the event provided an opportunity for TESDA and its partners to exchange ideas directly.

More than 500 participants attended this year’s conference, he said.

“Hands of excellence, hearts of service, futures of opportunity is what I see in you, graduates,” Benitez said in his speech during a social media livestream.