Defense chief defends DepEd's P150-million confidential fund request

ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Defense Secretary Gilberto &quot;Gibo&quot; Teodoro on Thursday defended the P150-million confidential fund request of the Department of Education (DepEd), saying children are susceptible to exploitation. For 2024, the DepEd — under Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte — proposed P150 million in confidential funds, saying basic education &quot;is intertwined with national security.&quot;Progressive lawmakers in Congress have insisted that surveillance activities should be left to intelligence gathering agencies.Teodoro told ANC&#x27;s &quot;Headstart&quot; that other agencies need confidential funds to vet suppliers, as well as uncover scams and &quot;criminal acts&quot; by their employees and other service providers.&quot;The youth are the most impressionable targets for potential influencing,&quot; Teodoro said when asked if he agreed with the DepEd&#x27;s confidential funds.&quot;I mean they would be the most vulnerable targets for exploitation by malefactors or those who wish ill against this country.&quot;But Teodoro pointed out that agencies requesting confidential funds have &quot;the burden&quot; to justify their proposals.<div>&#x27;NOT A WISE PRACTICE&#x27;</div>Teodoro said it was not a &quot;wise practice&quot; to rely on intelligence gathering conducted by the military.&quot;For example, if you use the armed forces in anti-smuggling [operations], which we do once in a while, or anti-drug operations, the temptation may be there and it may infect the intelligence gathering agency,&quot; he said.&quot;And our capabilities of the intelligence agencies are really limited to the threats of their major organizations,&quot; he added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/07/23/duterte-seeks-p150m-confidential-funds-under-depeds-proposed-2024-budget">Duterte defends P150M confidential funds under DepEd&#x27;s proposed 2024 budget</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/08/30/23/lawmaker-asks-where-did-depeds-p150-m-confidential-funds-go">Lawmaker asks: Where did DepEd&#x27;s P150-M confidential funds go?</a></li></ul>

Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro defended the P150-million confidential fund request of the DepEd, saying children are susceptible to exploitation. 

Defense chief defends DepEd's P150-million confidential fund request | ABS-CBN

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Defense chief defends DepEd's P150-million confidential fund request

Defense chief defends DepEd's P150-million confidential fund request

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 14, 2023 11:31 AM PHT

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Gibo Teodoro

Sara Duterte

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