Lawmakers want VP accountable for P5.6-B DepEd food wastage

The Department of Education (DepEd) under its former secretary, Vice President Sara Duterte, must be held responsible for "mismanaging" government resources and funds that led to the agency's failure to deliver its P5.69-billion feeding program to public school students, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and administration lawmakers said yesterday.

- NEIL JAYSON SERVALLOS and DELON PORCALLA

The ACT emphasized that the lapses that led to the delivery of moldy, insect-infested nutribuns, rotting food items, unsanitary packaging, and mislabeled manufacturing and expiry details for the feeding program were a disservice to students from poor and marginalized communities relying on the government for quality nutrition.

“This is also a betrayal of service and waste of public funds. This clearly shows how VP Sara prioritized perpetrating state attacks and serving as mouthpiece of the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) instead of giving due attention to education as the (DepEd)’s head,” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said.

“The ACT join(s) the call for an investigation into major lapses, including blacklisting of erring suppliers and holding the previous DepEd administration accountable for gross failure and negligence, as issues continue to emerge during Congress’ budget deliberations,” Quetua added.

For the ACT chief, holding the previous administration accountable is crucial, as the instance had been the second time that the DepEd supposedly mismanaged and skimped on funds.