DepEd gets add’l P4.5-B funds

MANILA, Philippines - A total of P4.5 billion was released to the Department of Education (DepEd) for classroom maintenance and the construction of sanitation facilities, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said yesterday.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the amount was released in time for the school opening on June 3, in line with the national government’s commitment to improve the quality of public education in the country.

“This latest release will be used to cover the repair and rehabilitation of our classrooms, including the construction of water sanitation facilities in elementary and secondary public schools all over the country,” Abad said in a statement.

“As we start the academic year this month, we are also moving closer to our goal of closing all educational resource gaps, boosting our public education system in the process,” he added.

Of the P4.5 billion, P1.1 billion will be used for classroom maintenance and P3.4 billion for sanitation facilities. The amount was charged against DepEd’s fund for basic education facilities under the 2013 General Appropriations Act.

“Besides our commitment to build more classrooms and provide enough equipment and teachers in public schools, we are also making crucial investments in the health and well-being of our students,” Abad said.

“After all, better access to clean water facilities can help ensure better hygiene and disease prevention in our campuses,” he said.

Earlier, the DBM also approved 61,510 new teaching positions to keep pace with the increasing demand for teachers in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide.

P3.4-B vaccination program

Meanwhile, the budget of the Department of Health for its Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) next year will be P3.4 billion, DOH Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said.

The amount is P1.5 billion more than this year’s budget.

“This is to ensure that every child in this country is immunized,” Tayag said at the 4th Asian Vaccine Congress in Cebu City on Wednesday.

EPI was initially aimed at eliminating tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and measles. It was expanded to include rotavirus last year, making the Philippines the first country to immunize against the disease in Southeast Asia.

The DOH will include pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PCV) in the program this year. The vaccine prevents meningitis, blood infection and pneumonia, the leading killer of children below five years old.

Also in the pipeline is the anti-measles vaccination for close to 200,000 students from Grade one to 10 in public schools in priority areas.

Some 700,000 infants from the 5.2 million families identified as poorest of the poor by the Department of Social Welfare and Development have benefited from the immunization program.

Lulu Bravo, president of the Immunization Partners in Asia Pacific (IPAP), said vaccines are one of the greatest health interventions in the last 200 years.

“It is the cost-effective measure in public health and with political will, it can easily be implemented among the target population,” she said.

IPAP is spearheading the congress from June 12 until today to enhance knowledge on vaccination practices, understand bases for vaccine recommendations and learn practical applications, support introduction of new and under-utilized vaccine in national immunization programs, learn of new vaccines under development and share best practices and increase awareness in improving vaccine coverage and compliance among Asian countries. – With Mitchelle Palaubsanon, The Freeman News Service