00:00As a supplementary to the budget approved by the Education Department,
00:04the savings and non-used funds can be used from 2023.
00:12Senate President Chiza Escudero said that
00:15in the middle of some points of education,
00:19the funds from the government should be the largest.
00:22Some congressmen agreed to call for a buy-cam
00:27to alleviate the issue raised by Ma'am Gonzales.
00:36As a supplementary to the budget approved by the Education Department,
00:38President Bongbong Marcos promised
00:41that he will find a way to fill the gap
00:44but not through line-item veto power.
00:47Senate President Chiza Escudero said
00:50that there are a lot of savings and non-used funds
00:52from 2023 and this year
00:55that can be used to cover more than 11.5 billion pesos
01:00in the 2025 budget of the Education Department.
01:03If we look at it, from 2022 to 2024,
01:0770% of the more than 51 billion pesos
01:09for the computerization program of DepEd was not used.
01:13That's why it can be understood
01:14why the allocation of the Congress for 2025 was like that.
01:18DepEd and Secretary Angara should know this
01:22because they were the ones who reported to the Congress
01:24in the middle of the budget deliberations
01:26about the dismal utilization
01:28or improper use of DepEd funds.
01:31Senator Aimee Marcos has a question.
01:33In the event that there are savings,
01:35it can be added.
01:36But it's a big if.
01:39Are there really savings?
01:40In the amount, in the huge amount
01:44that was allocated to the program,
01:46are we really sure?
01:48We are not sure.
01:49Meanwhile, our crisis in education,
01:52there is no doubt about that.
01:54But more than going back to the dismal budget of DepEd,
01:58the provision of the Constitution should be followed
02:01that states that the sector of education
02:03has the highest priority in the budget.
02:05It came out that it is higher
02:07than the more than P900 billion budget
02:09for the entire education sector
02:11that was allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways
02:14that reached more than P1 trillion pesos.
02:17Senator Migzubiri said
02:19that the President can call the BICAM again
02:22to fix this.
02:23But some of the BICAM members
02:26do not agree with this.
02:27I don't think there's any need
02:29for us to reconvene as a BICAM
02:31because we've already ratified it in both chambers,
02:34so in both the Senate and in both the House.
02:37So we're very satisfied with the versions
02:40on what will be the move of the executive
02:43within this time until the signing.
02:46So let's just wait.
02:47The President can or may exercise his veto powers.
02:52For GMA Integrated News,
02:54Mav Gonzales reporting for 24 Hours.
02:57The Department of Education has an answer
02:59to the statement of Senate President Cheese Escudero
03:02that there are a lot of savings
03:03and the government is not using funds.
03:06DepEd said that the budget of P32 billion pesos
03:10for their computerization program
03:12from 2022 to 2024
03:15P28.5 billion pesos or 89% of the fund
03:19has already been spent on other things.
03:22This is contrary to what Escudero said
03:24that 70% of the more than P51 billion pesos fund
03:27has not been used,
03:29so they can use P11.5 billion pesos
03:33in their 2025 budget.
03:45For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org
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