Duterte defends DepEd’s P150-million confidential funds

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday, September 14, defended the P150-million confidential funds included in the proposed budget of the Department of Education (DepEd).

During the budget deliberations at the House of Representative, Gabriela Representative Arlene Brosas asked Duterte why there was such line item in the DepEd budget.

“Kailangan pong tugunan ng gobyerno yung kakulangan sa pasilidad, ‘yung classrooms, ‘yung mga kagamitan, ‘yung mga guro na lubos na naapektuhan dito sa kalidad ng edukasyon. My question is, mayroon po kayong 150 million confidential fund sa DepEd, para po saan ito?” Brosas asked.

Under the National Expenditure Program, the DepEd budget for 2023 is at P710.66 billion.The House appropriations committee also swiftly terminated the deliberations on the OVP’s P2.92-billion budget for 2023, which is a three-fold increase from the office’s P702-million budget in 2022.

Bonz Magsambol