DepEd secures its P150-million intel funds in 2023 budget
Lawmakers approved the final version of the P5.268-trillion proposed budget for 2023, restoring also the P150-million CIF of the Department of Education (DepEd).
House appropriations panel chair Rep. Elizaldy Co said they agreed to restore DepEd’s CIF to “secure the future of our children.”
“That’s the decision of the House because it would be more difficult if our children are recruited and led to the wrong path. So we want the DepEd to spearhead, we want them to secure the future of our children,” Co said.
Vice President Sara Duterte, earlier defended her request for confidential funds, saying that it would be used to address the issues in the education agency such as sexual abuse, students’ involvement in illegal drugs, recruitment to insurgency, terrorism and violent extremism, among others.
“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,” Duterte said.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) criticized the bicameral committee’s decision to restore the CIFs of DepEd.
“It is frustrating that after months of fighting to instill some semblance of uprightness in how the taxpayer money should be spent, all the efforts of stakeholders and conscientious lawmakers were thrown out the window,” Vladimer Quetua, ACT chair, said in a statement on Monday.
