Margie Markland

Vice President Sara Duterte has accused several House speakers of manipulating the Department of Education's (DepEd) budget for the construction of classrooms, saying this was among the reasons why she stepped down from her post as Education chief.

Photo Courtesy of Inquirer.net/DepEd.

In a recorded interview released by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on September 10, Duterte said that House Speaker Martin Romualdez and House Appropriations chairman Elizaldy Co inflated DepEd's budget for classroom construction beyond its requested sum in 2023 and 2024.

This, she claimed, allowed the two to control billions in additional funds.  

“Ang budget ng Pilipinas ay hawak lang ng dalawang tao. Hawak lang siya ni Cong. Zaldy Co at ni Cong. Martin Romualdez. ‘Yan ang katotohanan,” Duterte said.

She also alleged several House members tried to get a chunk of the DepEd’s P5 billion budget for classroom construction in 2023.

“May mga lumapit na miyembro ng House kasi hinihingi nila yung parte ng P5 billion. Sinabi ko, hindi puwede ito kasi ang mangyayari nito, hindi magagawa ng DepEd ang trabaho nito ayon sa classroom backlog at prioritization,” she added.

The vice president said House leaders did the same in the 2024 budget, where an initial P19 billion allocation for classroom construction was raised to P24 billion.

The additional P5 billion, according to her, came at the expense of funds designated for repairing dilapidated classrooms, leaving only P1 billion for repairs. 

For the 2024 budget, Duterte said House leaders attached a list specifying where the P17 billion for classroom construction would go even though the department did not approve this.

"You can see that on paper. When we went to the Senate, the senators saw this. They asked the Department of Education, ‘Is it true or not that the list of 17 billion for classroom construction came from you?’" Duterte added.

Romualdez and Co's alleged insertions in the DepEd budget led Duterte to resign and also fueled her decision to forgo the question-and-answer portion of the House appropriations committee's deliberations of the OVP's budget.

“Hindi na ako papayag na sa susunod na taon ganiyan pa din ang gawin nila at ako ang mananagot sa ginagawa nila,” she said.

“‘Yan ‘yung sinasabi ko na bakit pa tayo mag question-and-answer dito para atakihin ninyo ako e ang masusunod lang naman sa budget, dalawang tao lang,” she added.

On the same day the video was released, the House resumed its deliberations on the OVP’s proposed 2025 budget. 

Unlike the previous hearing on August 27, where the vice president had heated exchanges with lawmakers, Duterte did not face the appropriations panel this time, saying in a letter that she "[defers] entirely to the discretion and judgment" of the committee on the OVP's proposed budget.  

In his speech during the House hearing on the OVP budget, Co described Duterte’s allegations as a “diversionary tactic” as he took a swipe at the Vice President’s utilization of her past budgets. 

“Malinaw na diversionary tactic ang video message ni VP Sara. Tulad ng tatay niya, gusto niyang ilihis ang usapin sa tunay na isyung kinakaharap niya. Ayaw niya kasing magpaliwanag. P125 million confidential funds spent in 11 days at nagsabi mismo ang COA na mali ang paggastos nito,” Co said. 

The OVP is requesting a P2.037 billion budget for 2025, up from P1.885 billion this year.

From 2022 to 2023, Duterte received parliamentary courtesy from the House, with no questions asked during committee-level budget deliberations.

Duterte has been in the news since leaving the Marcos Cabinet, with her budget utilization as DepEd secretary now under congressional and public scrutiny.