SENATE President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda questioned the Department of Education’s low utilization rate of the P3.1 billion fund for the construction of education facilities.

For 2022, the department’s utilization of its allocation for construction was 13.45
percent, Legarda said.

“This has always been one of the challenges of the department. It’s already the 2023 budget and it’s still a challenge. My question is, will there be a time when we will no longer have backlog?” she asked.

Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio assured the committee that the Department of Public Works and Highways and DepEd have included the problem in the list of issues that will be tackled in their upcoming meetings.

“We hope that by the time we reach the plenary we will be able to address this. It is an annual problem, not just at your time but with previous administrations as well. Otherwise, the allocated funds are only wasted. Even if we want to increase your budget, it will just be wasted if they remain unused,” Legarda said.