ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro strongly condemned the administration’s P12 billion budget cuts for the Department of Education.

Castro called the move a clear manifestation of the government’s anti-education and anti-poor policies.

“This budget cut is completely unacceptable and shows where this administration’s priorities truly lie. Instead of working towards the UN-recommended education budget of 6% of GDP, the Marcos Jr. administration is doing the opposite by slashing vital education funds,” Castro declared.

“Paano nga ba maiibsan ang learning crisis kung binabawasan pa ang pondo ng edukasyon? Ang P10 billion na kinat (cut) sa computerization program ay malaking dagok sa ating mga mag-aaral na desperadong makahabol sa digital age,” Castro emphasized.

The progressive lawmaker pointed out that while the previous leadership of DepEd was marred with controversies, the solution is not to punish the entire education sector through budget cuts.

“Hindi dapat magdusa ang mga estudyante, guro, at education support personnel dahil sa mga anomalyang ginawa ng dating secretary. The answer to corruption is not to decrease funding but to strengthen accountability measures and increase support for our learners,” she added.

Former ACT Teachers party-list representative and now its first nominee Antonio Tinio for his part said that the P10 billion cut from the computerization program would have provided thousands of students access to digital learning tools.

“We demand the immediate restoration of the P12 billion budget cut and call for a significant increase in education funding. Education is a right, not a privilege. Kung may pondo para sa confidential funds at infrastructure projects, dapat may pondo rin para sa edukasyon ng ating kabataan,” Tinio stressed.