Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte responded to ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro’s comment against the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP’s) request for confidential funds in next year’s budget.
On b 7, 2023, Castro called on Congress to heed the call of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for more intelligence funds and realign the P500 million intelligence fund of the OVP to the coast guard.
In a statement, the vice president told Franco to leave the decision to Congress.
“The matter of the confidential funds should be left to the wisdom of the entire membership of the House of Representatives and the Senate and not to Ms. France Castro,” Duterte said.
Castro reasoned that the PCG is always dealing with China’s “bullying and their intel funds are only P10 million since 2009 while the OVP, which has nothing to do with intelligence gathering, has huge intel funds.”
“If the OVP is so concerned with national security then it should have no objections and would support the transfer of its P500 million to the PCG,” added the Deputy Minority leader.
Castro was reported stating that the P150 million in DepEd confidential funds should be redirected to the early child development program.
Last year, DepEd explained that confidential expenses are allowed for all civilian offices, including the Department of Education. This has solid legal basis as provided under DBM Joint Circular 2015-01.
It stated that the threats to the learning environment, safety, and security of DepEd personnel are interlocking with the mandate of support to the national security of civilian offices.
Sexual abuse and all other forms of violence, graft, and corruption; involvement in illegal drugs of learners and personnel; recruitment to insurgency, terrorism, and violent extremism; child labor; child pornography; and recruitment to criminal activities, gangsterism, and financial and other scams, are just some of the pressing issues, which by their nature of being unlawful, need the support of surveillance and intelligence gathering to ensure that projects of DepEd are target-specific and will result in the broader protection of our personnel and learners.
DepEd added that it does not only face problems with access, equity, and quality education but also has to contend with pressing issues on safety and security.
