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Escudero says DepEd can tap unspent funds after bicam's budget cut

Article (news)

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1734425032287171507901960720240112-catch-up friday-pinyahan-elementary-school-MT-6.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/>Students of Pinyahan Elementary School, supervised by their respective teachers, initiate their &#x27;Catch-up Fridays&#x27; program by reading storybooks inside their classrooms on January 12, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File </div>MANILA -- Senate President Francis Escudero on Tuesday said the Department of Education could tap its unspent funds, after the bicameral conference committee slashed its budget for 2025. &quot;The President can augment any item in the budget from savings or unspent items in the budget,&quot; he told media in a text message.&quot;Madami naman po source to augment. DepEd and its secretary should know because the submissions for the budget deliberations on their own dismal fund utilization came from them,&quot; he added.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/15/wrap-cuts-to-deped-philhealth-as-2025-budget-bill-nears-finish-line-2124">Cuts to DepEd, PhilHealth as 2025 budget bill nears finish line</a></div>Escudero then cited the unspent funds of the agency.One example he said is the P10.034 billion that DepEd has not obligated, much less spent, since it was allocated P13.068 billion in the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA) for its computerization program. Escudero said this would revert to the National Treasury by the end of 2024.Another potential fund source is the P10.2 billion that DepEd has not obligated nor spent out of the P20.4 billion that Congress allocated in the 2023 GAA still for for its computerization program.Moreover, the agency has another unspent P15.9 billion from the 2024 budget also for its computerization program.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/01/19/23/senate-panel-finds-deped-laptop-project-overpriced-by-nearly-p1-billion">DepEd laptop project overpriced by nearly P1 billion: Senate panel</a></div>Escudero then showed media similarly unused funds for the New School Personnel Positions as well as Basic Education Facilities items in the 2024, 2023 and 2022 budgets.Meantime, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros mentioned the budget cuts in the education sector in her explanation as to why she voted against the Senate ratification of bicameral conference committee report on the 2025 national budget.&quot;The bicam version also significantly reduces the budgets for education: the Department of Education lost P15.17 billion, and the Commission on Higher Education lost P11.77 billion. These cuts are particularly concerning in the midst of a learning crisis and raise another pressing question: why are we sacrificing education and the future of our students?&quot; she said.She also bared her objections to cuts made by the bicameral panel in other agencies, including the &quot;zero state subsidy&quot; in 2025 for PhilHealth. She said eliminating its budget was not the solution, but rather the possible replacement of incompetent management.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/14/philhealth-to-appeal-zero-subsidy-assures-public-it-has-enough-funds-for-benefits-in-2025-1037">PhilHealth to appeal zero subsidy, assures public it has enough funds for benefits in 2025</a></div> &quot;This move is blatantly inconsistent with current laws: the Universal Health Care Act explicitly mandates an annual premium subsidy for indirect contributors in the General Appropriations Act, and the Sin Tax Reform Act requires annual allocations to the National Health Insurance Program from sin tax revenues. These legal obligations cannot be disregarded simply because PhilHealth has excess or reserve funds,&quot; Hontiveros wrote.She said that PhilHealth &quot;may operate at a net loss&quot; without the state subsidy, which she claimed could affect benefit payments and financial protection that Filipinos need in emergency situations.Hontiveros mentioned that even the Department of Health&#x27;s budget was slashed by P37.59 billion, which she said raises doubts on the reason why funds for people&#x27;s health are getting affected.&quot;Why are we defunding programs that directly save lives and improve the health of our citizens?&quot; the lawmaker asked.She pointed out more changes that she deemed questionable, from the P50 billion reduction in the budget of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the removal of 41 foreign-assisted projects that were &quot;inexplicably delisted, defunded, and placed in the unprogrammed category&quot;, rejection of Anti-Red Tape Authority’s request to fund regional offices next year, and the P50 billion reduction in the budget of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).Hontiveros then hit the expansion of the unprogrammed funds.&quot;It’s incredibly ironic that while slashing funding for essential programs like health, social protection, and education, the bicam version simultaneously expands unprogrammed funds to P531.6 billion, higher by P373 billion compared to the NEP. This raises serious questions about the purpose of these unprogrammed funds and their potential for misuse.&quot; she emphasized.&quot;The bicam version of the 2025 General Appropriations Bill is crippled by misplaced priorities at the expense of our people’s health and our children’s education,&quot; she added.Former Senator Panfilo Lacson urged the President to reconvene the bicameral conference committee, in order to &quot;correct this constitutional infirmity&quot;.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/12/16/marcos-to-work-with-lawmakers-to-restore-budget-cuts-in-education-sector-2256">Marcos to work with lawmakers to restore budget cuts in education sector</a></div>&quot;While we respect the President’s sole authority whether or not to exercise his veto power on the recently legislated 2025 national budget, the Constitution, specifically Article XIV Sec 5 (5) is unequivocal in giving “education the highest budgetary priority,&quot; he wrote in a blog post.&quot;With that being said, in choosing not to veto, he can still correct this constitutional infirmity by appealing to Congress to reconvene the bicameral conference and rectify the budget imbalance between the education and infrastructure sectors and be compliant with the 1987 Constitution, while the Enrolled Bill is not yet submitted for his signature and approval. I believe it will not take one whole day to do it,&quot; Lacson said.

Senate President Francis Escudero on Tuesday said the Department of Education could tap its unspent funds, after the bicameral conference committee slashed its budget for 2025.

Senate President Francis Escudero on Tuesday said the Department of Education could tap its unspent funds, after the bicameral conference committee slashed its budget for 2025.