“The Philippines spends too little on education compared with its neighbours.”

On the standard international measure — government spending on education as a share of GDP — the Philippines tops this ASEAN group at 3.97%, above Malaysia (3.51%), Vietnam (2.89%), Thailand (2.52%) and Singapore (2.19%).

So the 'we spend the least' version of the claim is simply not what the data shows.

What the share hides is how far it has to stretch. The Philippines also has one of the region's youngest populations — 27.9% under 15, against Singapore's 11.7% — so a similar slice of a much smaller economy per person is divided among proportionally far more schoolchildren. A high share of GDP and a low amount per student are not contradictory.

Comparability caveat: countries report in different years (Philippines 2025, Singapore 2024, Malaysia/Thailand/Cambodia/Indonesia 2023, Vietnam 2022), so read this as the latest available figure for each, not a single synchronised snapshot.