ESCUDERO: NO VETO NEEDED, PBBM CAN TAP DEPED’S P36-B UNSPENT FUNDS TO AUGMENT ITS BUDGET

THE Department of Education (DepEd) has over ₱36 billion in unused funds that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can tap to augment the agency’s budget after the Bicameral Conference Committee of Congress moved to remove its ₱10 billion request for computerization program.

This was pointed out on Tuesday by Senate President Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero, who said that “the President has the power to augment any item in the budget from savings or unspent items in the budget.

“This way he (PBBM) need not veto other line items in the GAA (General Appropriations Act) in order to provide the DepEd additional funds,” said Escudero.

The Senate leader said there are several unspent items in the (DepEd) budget that can be used, particularly from the funds allocated for DepEd’s computerization program from 2022 to 2024.

He cited figures from the submissions of the Education Department to Congress during the budget hearing.

Over the last three years beginning in 2022, DepEd has over ₱36 billion in unused funds from its computerization program.

In 2022, some ₱13.068 billion had been allocated to the Education Department for its computerization program, and yet about ₱10.03 billion had remained unobligated.

Last year, DepEd only spent 50 percent of its ₱20.4 billion allocation under the 2023 GAA. Under the current budget, the agency has yet to spend ₱15.9 billion of its ₱18.08 billion earmarked for computerization.

“That is a total of ₱36.13 billion of unspent funds over the past three years, more than thrice the ₱10 billion that DepEd would like to be restored in its 2025 budget. So may pondo naman na pwedeng i-tap si Presidente,” Escudero said.

The senator from Bicol lamented, however, that due to the failure of DepEd to fully use its 2022 computerization budget, the ₱10.034 billion in unobligated funds will revert to the National Treasury by the end of 2024.

“Education has many champions in both chambers of Congress, and we are all committed to providing our public schools with the support they require. Pero kailangan din masigurado ng DepEd na magagamit ang pondo nito ng maayos. These allocations for education will not help anyone unless the DepEd properly spends them on the projects they are intended for,” Escudero said.

He added: “From 2022 to 2024, 70 percent of the ₱51.5 billion allotted for the DepEd computerization program were unspent. So one can see why Congress has to be circumspect with regard to budget allocations. Tinitingnan natin hindi lang ‘yung purpose ng pondo, kundi ang kakayahan at kapasidad ng ahensya gamitin ang pondo nila. All these factors are taken into consideration.”

“Parang lumabas kayo ng kaibigan mo at nagyaya s’ya sa buffet, sagot mo. Nakita mo, mahina pala kumain. Kung magyaya ‘yan uli lumabas, malamang ‘di mo na dadalhin sa buffet ‘yun, sa may mga set meal na lang kasi sayang ang gastos. In this situation ang pagiging takaw mata can result in a few hundred pesos wasted; in government we are talking about billions of pesos,” said Escudero to illustrate his point.