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Gatchalian welcomes budget increase in PSA program: Sen. Win Gatchalian expresses appreciation to Sen. Sonny Angara for increasing the budget of the Philippine Statistics Authority program “Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media (FLEMM). During the plenary deliberation on the proposed budget of the PSA, Gatchalian noted that Angara, chairperson of the Committee on Finance defending the PSA budget, improved the budget from P58 million to P208 million, heeding his recommendation. The increase, the senator said, would enable the Education Commission 2 to use the data gathered through FLEMM to identify areas where there is high literacy – and illiteracy – rates and launch programs that will improve education outcomes in the area. “I'd like to thank the chairman for accommodating our request. And the chairman, also being a commissioner, understand this very well. And I'm sure that the information in the data that will be collected through the FLEMM will be put into good use by the Education Commission,” Gatchalian said. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)