According to a lawmaker, the Senate minority group wants to stop the Department of Education from starting a “practice” of receiving a secret cash.
Sara Duterte, vice president and education secretary, has requested P150 million in a confidential fund from Congress, stating it will be used to counter criminal activities that target students.
Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, the Senate Minority Leader, told ABS-TeleRadyo CBN’s that it was unusual for the DepEd to get such a fund.
“Hindi ugali ng … Hindi [customary sa] DepEd na merong confidential or intelligence fund ang secretary,” he stated.
“Ngayon mag-uumpisa ng bagong practice P150 million. Ang idea namin sa minority huwag na nating umpisahan itong practice na ito.”
Pimentel drew attention to the fact that a confidential fund is essentially a lump sum and only has a “motherhood category,” which, in his opinion, goes against the spirit of line-item budgeting outlined in the Constitution and Supreme Court rulings.
Additionally, Pimentel said, “I-itemize mo, klaruhin mo, i-identify na ninyo kung ano ‘yung gastusin. ‘Yung practice na ‘yan una sa lahat ayaw na natin umpisahan pa ng DepEd.”
“‘Yung halaga na P150 million di ba better spent ‘yun directly sa isang gastusin na directly related sa pagtuturo o sa pag-aaral ng ating mga kabataan?”
Congress will now decide whether or not to approve the confidential fund for the DepEd, according to Duterte.
