BBM vows to restore DepEd budget cut

President Marcos yesterday vowed to restore the multibillion-peso allocation slashed from the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd), saying the move to reduce the agency's proposed outlay for next year goes against his policy direction.

- By ALEXIS ROMERO

The bicameral conference committee has reduced DepEd's proposed budget by P12 billion, drawing flak from critics who stressed that the decision reflected "anti-education" policies and would affect students trying to catch up with the digital age.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the budget cut was a deviation from the lawmakers' usual practice of raising the President's proposed outlay for education.

Speaking to Palace reporters, Marcos said the administration is searching for ways to fix the budget cut, noting that the original proposal was just enough to fund existing measures.

"On the subject of the DepEd, we are still looking into it. I think it is contrary to all our policy directions when we talk about the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) development of our educational sector and then the continuing development," the President said.

"The P10 billion that was reduced comes from the computerization item. So we're working on it to make sure that we will restore it. I do not want to line item veto anything because that just gets in the way. So we’re still talking about it and trying to find a way,” he added.

Angara, meanwhile, said he is confident that the P10 billion lawmakers slashed from DepEd’s proposed 2025 budget would be supplemented with allocation from other fund sources.

Angara said Marcos had already instructed him to coordinate with other national agencies, including the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), to seek recourse over DepEd’s slashed funding.

“He instructed me to coordinate with other Cabinet secretaries, especially Secretary (Amenah) Pangandaman of DBM over how we can fill the funding DepEd lost,” Angara told reporters.

Angara said DepEd could explore ways to supplement its 2025 budget, including drawing from savings.

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