SENATE President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero on Tuesday (17 Dec 2024) pointed out that the Department of Education has over P36 billion in unused funds that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can tap to augment the agency’s budget after the bicameral conference committee of Congress moved to remove its P10 billion request for a computerization program.

Escudero emphasized that the President has the power to augment any item in the budget from savings or unspent items, allowing him to provide additional funds to DepEd without vetoing other line items in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

“There are several unspent items in the DepEd budget that can be used, particularly from the funds allocated for DepEd’s computerization program from 2022 to 2024,” Escudero said, citing figures from DepEd’s submissions to Congress during the budget hearing.

Over the past three years, DepEd has accumulated over P36 billion in unused funds from its computerization program.

In 2022, some P13.068 billion was allocated for the program, yet about P10.03 billion remained unobligated. Last year, DepEd only spent 50 percent of its P20.4 billion allocation under the 2023 GAA.

Under the current budget, the agency has yet to spend P15.9 billion of its P18.08 billion earmarked for computerization.

“That is a total of P36.13 billion in unspent funds over the past three years, more than three times the P10 billion DepEd wants restored in its 2025 budget. So, there is funding that the President can tap,” Escudero said.

The senator from Bicol lamented, however, that due to DepEd’s failure to fully use its 2022 computerization budget, the P10.034 billion in unobligated funds will revert to the National Treasury by the end of 2024.

“Education has many champions in both chambers of Congress, and we are all committed to providing our public schools with the support they require. But DepEd also needs to ensure it properly utilizes its funds. These allocations for education won’t help anyone unless DepEd spends them appropriately,” Escudero said.

He added, “From 2022 to 2024, 70 percent of the P51.5 billion allotted for DepEd’s computerization program went unspent. So, one can see why Congress has to be careful with budget allocations. We consider not just the purpose of the funds but the agency’s capacity to use them. All these factors are taken into account.”

“It’s like going out with a friend and inviting them to a buffet. You later realize they can’t eat much. If they invite you again, you’d probably skip the buffet and go for a set meal instead because it’s a waste. In government, we’re talking about billions of pesos,” Escudero illustrated.