Hontiveros: ‘No compelling reason’ for DepEd ‘s P150M confidentual fund

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday, November 14 once again asked her colleagues to reconsider realigning the P150-million worth of confidential fund included in the proposed 2023 budget for the Department of Education (DepEd).

Hontiveros pointed out Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, who’s also the DepEd Secretary, herself said that the agency will leave it to Congress to decide what to do on the proposed confidential fund under the DepEd.

“Since the issue of the confidential funds were raised, the DepEd was firm in its belief that confidential funds were legal and that they need the fund to protect the learners,” Hontiveros said during the continuation of the Senate’s debates on the proposed 2023 national budget.

“So I hope our colleagues in the Senate will share the view that there are no extraordinarily compelling reasons to provide a confidential fund to the education agency,” she stressed.

Netizens overwhelmingly agreed with Hontiveros, expressing doubts as where the confidential funds would be spent. Many also pointed to woes that continue to plague the Philippine education system, despite the DepEd getting the lion’s share of the national budget. Some netizens proposed ways in which the funds could be put to better use.