Senators Vow to Push Higher Budget for DepEd Next Year

Upon learning that the Department of Education’s (DepEd) appropriation of the construction of classrooms was slashed by about P100 billion, the Senators vowed to raise the budget next year.

The DepEd presented their proposed P528.8-billion 2019 budget before the Senate Subcommittee on Finance. From a P105.5 billion budget for basic education facilities this year, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) cut the appropriation for the National Expenditure Program (NEP) next year to just P34.6 billion.

The minimum annual additional classroom requirement is 10,000. This budget, according to DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, can only construct 4,110 classrooms.

Additional funding is needed to be able to build at least the minimum requirement of new classrooms annually. This includes the renovation of disaster-stricken school buildings said Briones.

DepEd’s initial proposal is to build 44,000 classrooms in the country with a P130-billion budget.

Only P34.6 billion was granted by the DBM. This is based on the DepEd’s implementation of its classroom construction program this year.

Together with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the DepEd has completed some 82,000 classrooms using its current budget. But the figure is only seven percent of the agency’s target for this year.

The DepEd should not suffer the budget cut according to Chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee Senator Loren Legarda. She said that the DPWH is the one at fault for failing to build the new classrooms.

“It’s your fault…It’s the inefficiency of the implementing agency,” said Legarda to a DPWH representative in the budget hearing.

Senator Legarda vowed to work on increasing the DepEd’s 2019 budget by P50 billion. This is to ensure that the agency could build the much-needed school facility.

Committee Vice Chair Senator Bam Aquino also expressed his desire to push the increase of the DepEd fund for the construction of the 10,000 classrooms.

Both Senator Riza Hontiveros and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian supported the proposal to increase the DepEd budget.

The DepEd has been allocated P528.8 billion for next year, which is P51.8 billion short of its 2018 budget of P580.6 billion.

via Manila Bulletin / Vanne Elaine Terrazola