00:00The budget of the Department of Education or DepEd could be added by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
00:06through the acquisition of unused funds.
00:09Let's find out the details in the words of Daniel Manalastat.
00:15The budget of the Department of Education could be increased or added by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
00:20through the acquisition of unused funds or unused funds of the government.
00:26This amount can reach up to a billion pesos.
00:28According to Senate President Francis Escudero,
00:32this amount can be used for the computerization program of the government
00:36that was approved by the agency of the Bicameral Conference Committee.
00:40Escudero said that through this,
00:42the other items in the General Appropriations Act could not be vetoed
00:47to fulfill the budget for DepEd.
00:49Escudero also mentioned that just like in 2022,
00:53until 2024, 70% of the P51.1 billion that was allocated for the DepEd computerization program is unspent.
01:03They are looking at not only the purpose of the funds
01:06but also the ability and capacity of the agency to use their funds.
01:10Senator Aimee Marcos said that the President could really increase it but...
01:15It's a big if.
01:17Do we really have savings?
01:19In the amount, in the huge amount of funds that were allocated for the program,
01:25are we really sure?
01:26We are not sure.
01:28The only question now is, can the budget be returned to the Bicam?
01:32That happened before, right?
01:33We were presidents, the seafarers, three times.
01:38But the president can always call for a special session even if he's on vacation.
01:43Former Senator Pan Philonaxon also believes that the President could run for Congress
01:48to reconvene the Bicam so that the budget can be adjusted.
01:51Daniel Maranastas for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.
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