Angara decries P10-B cut in DepEd’s 2025 computer budget
MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara expressed disappointment over the P10-billion budget cut for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) computerization program for 2025.
“P10 billion was cut from the proposed 2025 computerization program of the DepEd. That could have funded thousands of computers/gadgets for our public school children. Infrastructure is important, but so is investing in our people and human capital. The digital divide will widen,” Angara said on X on Thursday, December 12.
Angara was referring to the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP), an annual initiative of the agency aimed to improve access to technology by thousands of public schools across the Philippines, empowering them to “meet the challenges of the 21st century.”
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The DepEd’s DCP projects faced congressional scrutiny in recent years due to concerns over “overpriced and outdated” laptops distributed to teachers. A separate investigation by Rappler revealed that DepEd laptops were being resold in the market. The contracts for these DCP projects were awarded during the tenure of then-education secretary Leonor Briones, under the Duterte administration.
“Sad to learn that both houses of Congress have decided to decrease by P12 billion the budget the President proposed for DepEd for 2025. This reverses a trend in recent years where Congress added even more to the education budget, save for one year during the pandemic,” Angara said.
In response to Angara’s statement, Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate finance committee, explained on Friday, December 13, that they had to prioritize other items in the DepEd budget.
“Priorities had to be weighed and certain cuts on some programs had to be made. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that every peso allocated serves the real needs of our educators and learners,” she said.
Poe also noted that they took into account the state auditors’ finding that DepEd had used only half of its DCP funding last year, when Vice President Sara Duterte still headed the agency.
“We must see to it that all of the program’s systemic problems, such as procurement delays, be addressed first before allocating the corresponding budget increase,” she said.
Angara said that a total of P12 billion was cut from the DepEd’s 2025 proposed budget of P748.65 billion. – Rappler.com