House defends P10-billion DepEd budget cut for 2025

The House of Representatives stood firm on slashing the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) for 2025, citing delayed procurement under its computerization program.

In a statement on Sunday, 1-Rider Party-list Representative Rodge Gutierrez responded to Education Secretary Sonny Angara's dismay over the cuts which, he said, would affect the agency’s computerization program.

“Secretary Angara may argue that education funding is sacrosanct, but Congress cannot keep throwing good money after bad. This is not about depriving education; it’s about ensuring proper fund use and accountability,” Gutierrez said.

"As former Senate Finance Committee chair, Sec. Angara knows that the law is clear: unused funds must be accounted for before new allocations can be made. Now that he's education secretary, he should focus on fixing DepEd’s internal mess. Congress cannot turn a blind eye to these issues” he added.

Citing the Commission on Audit’s report, Gutierrez noted that DepEd only disbursed  P2.075 billion of its P11.36 billion 2023 budget for information and communication technology equipment.

He added that the September budget hearing revealed that 12,022 laptops for teachers and 7,558 for non-teaching personnel remained undelivered in by end of 2023.

"And that's just for 2023, we're not even talking about the computerization budget for 2024 and the year is almost over," Gutierrez said.

Last week, the bicameral conference committee approved the P6.352-trillion 2025 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), which included cuts of P12 billion from DepEd and P30 billion from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

In an Instagram post also on Sunday, Angara expressed optimism that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. would address DepEd’s budget cut. — BM, GMA Integrated News