VP Sara accuses House leaders of meddling with DepEd classroom budget
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte has accused House Speaker Martin Romualdez and the chairperson of the powerful House appropriations committee of manipulating the Department of Education's budget for classroom construction over the past two years.
In a video interview released by the Office of the Vice President on Tuesday, September 10, Duterte said the House of Representatives inflated DepEd's budget for classroom construction beyond its requested sum in 2023 and 2024. This, she claimed, allowed Romualdez and Rep. Elizaldy Co (Ako Bicol) to control billions in additional funds.
The OVP sent Duterte's video to reporters on the same day the lower chamber resumed its deliberations on the OVP's proposed 2025 budget.
Unlike the previous hearing on August 27, where the vice president had heated exchanges with lawmakers, Duterte did not face the appropriations panel this time, saying in a letter that she "[defers] entirely to the discretion and judgment" of the committee on the OVP's proposed budget.
DepEd irregularities
In the nine-minute video — a continuation of another video the OVP sent on Monday — Duterte detailed her concerns about the alleged irregular insertions in the budget of DepEd, which she led before her resignation on July 19.
Duterte recalled being approached by House members who asked for a portion of DepEd's proposed P5 billion outlay for classroom construction in the 2023 budget.
"I was taken aback when they asked, 'How much of that is ours? How much do we get?'" Duterte said in mixed English and Filipino.
Duterte said she refused the lawmakers' requests to give DepEd a free hand to construct new classrooms based on its backlog.
"So, sinabihan ko ‘yung isang congressman, 'Sabihan ninyo si Martin Romualdez na hindi pwedeng chop-chopin ang classroom construction na 5 billion' (I instructed one congressman, 'Tell Martin Romualdez that we cannot allow the P5 billion for classroom construction to be split up')," the vice president said.
Because she did not agree to the lawmakers' demands, Duterte alleged that DepEd's proposed P5 billion funds for classrooms were bumped up to P15 billion, with the additional P10 billion being placed under the "control" of Romualdez and Co.
Philstar.com has reached out to Romualdez and Co for comment and will update this story with their response.
The vice president said House leaders did the same in the 2024 budget, where an initial P19 billion allocation for classroom construction was raised to P24 billion. This time, the additional P5 billion was allegedly taken from the funds allocated for classroom repairs.
“So, what was left for repairs for the poor classrooms is just 1 billion," Duterte said.
For the 2024 budget, Duterte said House leaders attached a list specifying where the P17 billion for classroom construction would go even though the department did not approve this.
"You can see that on paper. When we went to the Senate, the senators saw this. They asked the Department of Education, ‘Is it true or not that the list of 17 billion for classroom construction came from you?’" Duterte added.
Romualdez and Co's alleged insertions in the DepEd budget led Duterte to resign and also fueled her decision to forego the question-and-answer portion of the House appropriations committee's deliberations of the OVP's budget.
"That is one of the reasons why I resigned from the Department of Education. I will not allow them to do the same thing next year and hold me accountable for their actions," Duterte said.
"That's why I’m saying, 'Why are we still having a Q&A session where you attack me? In the end, only two people control the budget,'" she added.
On Monday, September 9, Duterte justified her stonewalling of the House appropriations committee's deliberations of the OVP's proposed budget, arguing that the lawmakers who faced her were simply not used to "tough responses."
The vice president also said the budget hearing of the OVP was being used by "certain lawmakers" to launch political attacks against her.
The August 27 hearing where Duterte repeatedly traded insults with lawmakers and refused to coherently answer their queries, especially on her use of confidential funds, is a marked departure from previous years' House deliberations of the OVP budget.
In 2022 and 2023, Duterte enjoyed the privilege of having the OVP budget hearing terminated within minutes due to House lawmakers' "courtesy" to her. Motions to end the budget hearing early were usually met with objections from the three-member Makabayan bloc.
However, since the start of the year, Duterte and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, have publicly feuded with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other administration allies over issues related to Charter change and the president's foreign policy. This marked the breakup of the UniTeam alliance that swept Sara and Marcos to power in 2022.
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