Metro Manila, Philippines – A teacher’s group said on Tuesday the proposed education budget for 2025 should be preserved despite the “significant underutilization” under the leadership of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The group’ call to maintain the proposed P793.18-billion budget was in light of an audit report revealed in a House hearing that the Department of Education only spent P2.75 billion from the P11-billion computerization program last year.
The Commission on Audit also reported zero accomplishment in the delivery of information and communication technology packages such as laptops and smart TVs to schools in 2023.
In a statement, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said the “real problem lies in the agency’s misuse of funds, driven by misaligned priorities and negligence of the former education secretary.” Duterte stepped down from office in July and was succeeded by Sonny Angara.
“Teachers have had to spend their own money and even take out loans for laptops despite their meager salaries, and countless students are falling behind due to a severe shortage of learning materials and devices,” Vladimer Quetua, chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), said in a statement.
The agency has vowed to deliver over 44,000 information and communication technology packages before year-end.
“Ito po’y kailangang kailangan ng ating mga public schools. I wish to believe, ito ang dahilan kung bakit ang Philippine education ay nasa bottom ng ranking sa PISA,” Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro said during the inquiry.
[Translation: Our public schools need this badly. I wish to believe that it’s the reason the Philippines is at the bottom of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) rankings]
Lawmakers also questioned how the P112.5 million in confidential funds were spent in 2023. Analyn Sevilla, education undersecretary for finance, said she is unaware of how these were utilized.
“The three-month requirement should be released (on a) quarterly basis. And that the next liquidation should be upon the liquidation of the head of the agency to the chairman of Commission on Appropriations. So to answer the question if alam ba namin iyong pinaggamitan (we know where it was utilized), we don’t know because we are not in the process ng (of) liquidation and utilization,” she said.
Despite issues hounding the agency’s funds, ACT called on lawmakers to augment the proposed budget next year.
“ACT reiterated its call for the doubling of the education budget, in line with the United Nations standards of at least 6% of GDP [gross domestic product] to address the perennial shortages in basic education and resolve the learning crisis, and substantial salary increase for teachers and education workers,” it said.
The group also said Duterte must be held accountable for “betrayal of duty.”
NewsWatch Plus sought the side of the Office of the Vice President, which said it refused to comment for now.
