INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) is set to receive P9.43 billion of the proposed budget allotted for digitalization efforts, said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday.
In a statement, the DBM said that P38.75 billion in the National Expenditure Program has been dedicated to the government’s overall digitalization efforts, a 60.6 percent increase from the 2023 budget of P24.93 billion.
At around one-fourth of the digitalization budget, DepEd received the highest allotment, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) following, respectively.
The DBM listed the following agencies and their cut of digitalization budget:
- DepEd: P9.43 billion
- DOJ: P5.55 billion
- DICT: P5.34 billion (for information and communications technology expenditures)
- Department of Finance: P3.15 billion
- Department of Interior and Local Government: P2.60 billion
- National Economic and Development Authority: P2.08 billion
- Judiciary (Supreme Court, Presidential Electoral Tribunal, Sandiganbayan, Court of Appeals, Court of Tax Appeals): P1.44 billion
- Department of National Defense: P1.12 billion
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources: P913 million
- Other Executive Offices: P890 million
This comes amid a hot debate regarding DepEd’s controversial confidential funds, which amount to P150 million in the proposed 2024 budget.