Gatchalian wants Angara to review DepEd's 2025 budget

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday urged incoming Department of Education secretary Sonny Angara to review the proposed budget of the agency for 2025.

The DepEd's proposed budget for 2025 was prepared under the leadership of Vice President Sara Duterte, whose resignation takes effect on July 19. 

"I will recommend it to him, but I know it will be automatic, na i-review [ang proposed 2025 budget ng DepEd] para ang programa na gusto niyang palakasin ay maiayos," Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate basic education committee, said in a virtual press conference.

"Si Senator Sonny, he is a finance man, and I'm very, very sure na ia-analyze niya ang budget for 2025, and I'm very, very sure na iti-tweak niya 'yan," he added.

(I will recommend it to him, but I know it will be automatic to review the proposed budget of DepEd for 2025 so that the programs that he wants to prioritize will be funded. Senator Sonny is a finance man. I'm very sure that he will analyze and tweak the budget for 2025.)

Angara chaired for several years the Senate committee on finance, which is in charge of the scrutiny and passage of the annual national budgets.

Gatchalian also called on Angara to look into the reported leakages in the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E-GASTPE).

"Mag-re request din ako sa kanya na i-review itong programa at ilabas na ang guidelines dahil aminado naman ang DepEd na may leakage eh at aminado 'yung DepEd na hindi napa-prioritize ang mahihirap. 'Yun ang babaguhin nila sa kanilang guidelines," he said.

(I will also request that he review this program and release the guidelines because DepEd has already admitted that there was a leakage and the poor students were not prioritized.)

In a Senate hearing in March, it was disclosed that there were over 19,000 "ghost students" or undocumented beneficiaries of the senior high school voucher program under the E-GASTPE program.

Gatchalian also revealed that around P8 billion worth of educational assistance, supposedly for underprivileged learners, is spent annually for “non-poor” students under the Educational Service Contracting (ESC) program, which is covered by the E-GASTPE Law. —VBL, GMA Integrated News