Congress to scour 2023 budget for SPED funding, says Romulo

Pasig City Representative Roman Romulo on Tuesday said it is still possible to find funds for the special education (SPED) program after it got a zero budget in the Department of Education's (DepEd) proposed appropriations for 2023.  

Romulo, chairperson of the House basic education and culture committee, said DepEd submitted to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) a budget of P560 million for SPED.

However, the amount was not included in the total proposed appropriations for DepEd that DBM submitted to Congress.

Romulo said many lawmakers share the same advocacy of providing education to children with special needs and would want to continue the program by funding it.

“Sa pananaw ko po, kakayanin naman makahanap sa budget natin lalong lalo na po yung SPED has been a program of the DepEd for such a long time na sigurado ko naman po makakahanap ng funds para malagyan muli yung SPED schools natin,” Romulo said in an interview with GMA’s Balitanghali.

(I think it will be possible to find a budget, especially because SPED has been a program of the DepEd for such a long time and I am sure that they will find a budget to fund the program anew.)

“Even sa mga miyembro ng Kongreso dito pa lamang po ay the past few days naguusap usap na po kami mga ilan po sa amin kasi hindi lang naman po ako ang may adbokasiya sa SPED napakarami pong mga mambabatas na may adbokasiya po [nito], kaya sa totoo lang po in the past few days dito pa lamang po sa Congress nag-iisip na po kung papaano po saan po tayo makakahanap ng pondo para mapondohan ang SPED,” he added.

(Even among the members of Congress, it has been a discussion in the past few days how and where to look for funding for SPED.)

The lawmaker cited that when the pandemic struck, DepEd did not have funding for internet allowance, which became a necessity for online classes.  He said the House pitched an "institutional suggestion" to make the budget available for connectivity.

Romulo said continuing with the SPED program is an expression of support towards “inclusive education” for all students.

“Dito naman sa parteng SPED masisigurado ko naman po dahil napakaraming mambabatas po ang gusto nila ay inclusive education, gusto nila 'no child left behind, no student left behind,’ kaya sisiguraduhin po natin makahanap ng pondo para itong SPED classes natin ay mapagpatuloy,” he said.

(There are many legislators who want inclusive education, they believe in the policy of “no child left behind, no student left behind,” so we will make sure to find funds so that our SPED classes can continue.)

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) earlier said that no budget was allocated for SPED in 2023 after the DepEd failed to provide sufficient documentation for its request.

The DBM said this includes the details of the proposed amount with specific purposes, the basis of computations, and the status of the ongoing conversion and establishment of Inclusive Learning Resource Centers (ILRCs).

It also cited the obligation rate of the SPED program, which was only 1.13% as of June 30, 2022, equivalent to only P6.35 million out of P560.202 million.

To address this issue, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said “internal adjustments” will be made within the agency to fund SPED.

In a separate statement, the DepEd said that they will work with the Congress to look for other ways to fund SPED.—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA News