ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro condemned the Bicameral Conference Committee’s decision to slash P10 billion from the Department of Education’s 2024 computerization program budget, calling it an unjust punishment of students and teachers for the misdeeds of former DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte.

“It is completely unacceptable that our students and teachers have to suffer because of the previous leadership’s mismanagement. The bicam’s decision to cut vital education funding while padding infrastructure projects in the DPWH with pork barrel funds shows misplaced priorities,” Castro stated.

“Bakit ipagdudusa ng mga mag-aaral at guro ang kapalpakan ng dating Secretary? Hindi solusyon ang pagbawas ng pondo sa edukasyon. Sa halip na tanggalan ng pondo ang DepEd, dapat silipin at imbestigahan ang mga anomalya at papanagutin ang mga responsable,” she added.

Former ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio joined Castro in criticizing the lack of transparency in bicameral proceedings.

“The bicam has become a backdoor venue for realigning billions in public funds away from social services towards infrastructure projects that are not immediate priorities for our people,” Tinio emphasized.

“Napakahalaga ng computerization program sa modernisasyon ng ating edukasyon. Sa halip na bawasan ang pondo nito, dapat nga itong dagdagan upang matugunan ang malaking backlog sa ICT equipment ng ating mga paaralan. Mananatiling responsibilidad ng DepEd Secretary ang pagtiyak na hindi gagamitin ang pondo sa katiwalian,” he added.

Castro called for the immediate reconvening of the bicameral committee with full public transparency and television coverage.

“We demand the restoration of the DepEd budget cuts and the removal of pork barrel insertions in infrastructure projects. The Filipino people deserve to know how their money is being realigned in these closed-door meetings,” she concluded.