Solons: DepEd has to prove first it can disburse, use funds properly

House of Representatives plenary. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) must first prove that it can disburse its budget efficiently before Congress allocates more funds for specific programs, House of Representatives lawmakers said on Monday.

In a press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa complex on Monday, members of the House of Representatives’ Young Guns bloc were asked about the bicameral conference committee’s decision to remove funds under DepEd’s proposed 2025 funds for the computerization program — which has drawn scrutiny.

Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun explained that utilization rates, or the amount of funds used by an agency for a specific project, has been a consideration for Congress in crafting the proposed budget.

“Of course, we also need to look at the utilization rate of [DepEd] because they also have to explain, especially their computerization program which they said was not funded, but we already gave funds for this during the time of the former Secretary ng Department of Education, Vice President Sara Duterte, we saw what happened,” Khonghun said.

“Many of the laptops are still lodged at warehouses, actually they have not been delivered.  So they have to explain first their programs as to how the funds provided by the government were used, because we cannot just give and give allocations without them accounting for how the funds were used,” he added.

Khonghun further noted that DepEd’s utilization rate for its information and communication technology project was only P2.75 billion of P11.36 billion.

“So during the past DepEd administration, the agency was notorious for its delayed procurement and for its failure to uphold transparency and accountability. That’s why DepEd should show it has changed, and they should show that they have responsibly used the government funds,” he noted.

Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V meanwhile clarified that DepEd’s budget slash was not reflective of Secretary Sonny Angara’s performance but of the agency’s inability to use funds efficiently.

According to Acidre, it is unfortunate because he knows Angara is a very good public servant, but the agency that the former senator joined last July 2024 has been flagged for not utilizing a huge chunk of its budget for the computerization program.

“When we craft our budget, we not only look at what we should spend on, but also the capacity of the agency to spend the funds given to the.  And the numbers won’t lie, and it’s quite unfortunate because we know Secretary Sonny Angara to be a very good public servant, very efficient at what he does,” Acidre said.

“But we saw the limited disbursing, disbursement, capacity utilization, and low utilization rate of [DepEd], maybe because we came from the previous Secretary of Education.  And I think it’s a good time for DepEd to address their challenges, especially in the utilization,” he added.

Ortega said that the House is confident with Angara’s leadership, assuring the Secretary that the budget allocated by the House will be responsive enough.

“Of course, the House is very confident with the Secretary ng DepEd, former Senator Sonny Angara, and we know that the budget allotted will also be responsive enough to address the needs of our education sector,” Ortega said.

After the bicam came out with its committee report, Angara lamented that the budget cut suffered by DepEd, noting that this could have been a huge help for the agency’s computerization bid.

“P10 billion was cut from the proposed 2025 computerization program of the DepEd. That could have funded thousands of computers/gadgets for our public school children. Infrastructure is important but so is investing in our people and human capital. The digital divide will widen,” Angara said in a tweet last December 12.

“Sad to learn that both Houses of Congress have decided to decrease by P12 billion the budget the President proposed for DepEd for 2025. This reverses a trend in recent years where Congress adds even more to the education budget (save for one year during the pandemic),” he added.

READ: DepEd budget cut screams admin’s anti-education policy — Castro 

Eventually, Angara said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed to “remedy” this cut in DepEd’s budget,

“President [Marcos] himself told us he will remedy this,” Angara pointed out but did not say how.

READ: Angara: Marcos to remedy huge DepEd budget cut 

Undelivered laptops were among the issues discussed at the deliberations of DepEd’s proposed budget last September 2 — just weeks after Angara took the helm over Vice President Duterte.

READ: Solons blast low budget use, non-delivery of laptops of DepEd under Sara 

During the discussions, DepEd Director Ferdinand Pitagan confirmed that only P2.18 billion out of P11.36 billion funds for computers, laptops, and smart television sets — items crucial for e-learning — were spent.