DBM approves 3,627 teaching positions as Sulu's schools division moves from BARMM to DepEd Region IX

What the budget department approved

The 3,627 positions break down into 3,618 teaching items, from Teacher I to Master Teacher II across kindergarten, elementary and junior high school, and nine teaching related items covering Head Teacher I and School Principal I and II. Angara welcomed the approval on Monday and issued a statement in Filipino the next day addressed to Sulu's teachers and staff.

"We know that there's some worry about such a big change in the work situation. So our message to our teachers and workers in Sulu: You are part of the DepEd family, you are protected, and we won't neglect your livelihood," he said. He called it an obligation to recognize the teachers' sacrifices and to carry out the President's word that nobody would be left behind in the transfer.

DepEd said it is working with the budget department, its Zamboanga Peninsula regional office and local government partners to speed up deployment and appointment protocols so that salaries, benefits and operating support continue without a break.

The 84 positions that came first

The teaching items come on top of 84 administrative and division positions the budget department approved earlier to staff the SDO Sulu headquarters. Forty of those are held by incumbent personnel of the Bangsamoro Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education deployed in Sulu, who get priority for absorption under Civil Service Commission rules.

The division office is made up of the Office of the Schools Division Superintendent, the Curriculum Implementation Division and the School Governance and Operations Division. Angara directed DepEd Region IX to run recruitment, selection and appointments, with priority for qualified employees now serving under the Bangsamoro ministry in Sulu.

The office was formally placed under DepEd Region IX on October 20, in a ceremony that coincided with a health caravan at Kawmpang Elementary School in Patikul led by the President and Angara. The move implements Executive Order No. 91, series of 2025, which declared Sulu part of the Zamboanga Peninsula after the province's exclusion from the Bangsamoro region.

The President's visit to Patikul

At Kawmpang Elementary School, Marcos told teachers and education personnel that the government was watching the transfer closely and that existing staff would be absorbed into the new setup. Speaking at the inauguration of the Sulu Hall of Justice on the same trip, he said the government was coordinating with the budget department to create more plantilla positions so that everyone crosses over and no one is left behind.

The YAKAP School Health and Protection caravan brought medical checkups, primary care consultations, dental services, vision and mental health screenings, PhilHealth registration and record updates, ID issuance and free medicines to more than 1,600 learners, parents and school personnel. Learners and staff from Martirez Elementary School in Jolo also took part. The program is run by DepEd with the health and interior departments and PhilHealth.

Angara said bringing the caravan to Patikul and formally placing SDO Sulu under Region IX carried out the President's order for fast, direct service while strengthening support for education across the province.

Who pays salaries while the transfer runs

The money question was settled in February. At a meeting of the Technical Working Group on the Sulu Transition on February 4 at the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, presided over by Budget Secretary Rolando Toledo and Bangsamoro Deputy Interior Minister Eddie Alih with Sulu Vice Governor Abdusakur Tan, the Bangsamoro government agreed to shoulder the salaries of basic education personnel in Sulu for fiscal year 2026, with administrative supervision shared with DepEd.

The national government, through DepEd, pays the schools' maintenance and other operating expenses. The Bangsamoro education ministry, DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education were to issue a joint memorandum on shared supervision. Salary and benefit requirements are submitted by the Sulu division office, LAPAK and the Hadji Butu School of Arts and Trades to the Bangsamoro ministry, and affected personnel keep reporting to the Bangsamoro government until the transition is complete.

The same meeting kept the staff of the Bangsamoro Ministry of Social Services and Development in Sulu under that ministry until positions are created and employees exercise the options in a joint memorandum circular being drafted by the interior department, the budget department, the Bangsamoro Attorney General's Office and the Bangsamoro finance ministry, with Civil Service Commission input. "No teacher misses a salary, no learner is left behind, and no family feels uncertain about the services they rely on," Toledo said of the goal.

Classrooms and the May hiring round

DepEd and the Sulu provincial government plan to build 30 classrooms for Kawmpang Elementary School in a complex behind the Sulu Provincial Capitol: three buildings of two storeys with 10 classrooms each.

The new division also figures in the May hiring round. When the budget department approved 32,916 new teaching positions for school year 2026 to 2027, the Zamboanga Peninsula got the largest regional share at 3,361 items, including 1,467 Teacher I positions set aside for the Division of Sulu to fill instructional gaps. Angara's statement on Monday did not say how those May items relate to the 3,627 now approved for the division office.