MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has sufficient unused funds to offset the P12 billion cut from its bicameral-approved budget, Senate President Chiz Escudero said.
Escudero noted that of the P12 billion reduction, P10 billion was slashed from DepEd's computerization program.
This was in response to Education Secretary Sonny Angara, a former colleague of the Senate in this Congress, who criticized the budget cut, emphasizing that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. could still amend the budget.
"There are several unspent items in the (DepEd) budget that can be used, particularly from the funds allocated for DepEd's computerization program from 2022 to 2024," Escudero said on Tuesday, December 17.
Unused funds. Escudero said the DepEd has accumulated P36 billion in unused funds for its computerization efforts over recent years.
In 2022, DepEd was allocated P13.068 billion for its computerization program, of which P10.03 billion remained unobligated. For 2023, only half of the P20.4 billion allocated under the national budget was utilized. Additionally, for 2024, DepEd has yet to use P15.9 billion out of the P18.08 billion allotted for the year.
"That is a total of P36.13 billion of unspent funds over the past three years—more than three times the P10 billion that DepEd would like restored in its 2025 budget. So may pondo naman na pwedeng i-tap si Presidente," Escudero said.
However, Escudero cautioned that the computerization budget for 2022 will revert back to the National Treasury by the end of 2024.
"Education has many champions in both chambers of Congress, and we are all committed to providing our public schools with the support they require. But we need to ensure that DepEd is using its funds properly. These allocations for education will not help anyone unless the DepEd properly spends them on the projects they are intended for," Escudero added.
Reconvening. Some current and former lawmakers are suggested reconvening the bicameral conference committee (bicam) to address the issue.
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said in an ambush interview that President Marcos could request the bicam to revisit and revise its report.
“We did that for the Anti-Smuggling Act; it was returned to the bicam report to organize,” Zubiri explained.
Sen. Imee Marcos, the president’s sister, echoed Zubiri’s position.
Marcos' role. Former senator Ping Lacson also weighed in, saying that it was up to the president to correct the bicam budget.
“With that being said, in choosing not to veto, he can still correct this constitutional infirmity by appealing to Congress to reconvene the bicameral conference and rectify the budget imbalance between the education and infrastructure sectors and be compliant with the 1987 Constitution while the Enrolled Bill is not yet submitted for his signature and approval,” Lacson said.