Aug 14, 2024 - 11:20
By manilatimes.net

'CoA can probe DepEd budget mishandling'

EDUCATION Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara on Tuesday said the Commission on Audit (CoA) could investigate Vice President Sara Duterte's claim that the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd), under her stewardship, had been mishandled.

Angara refused to directly comment on Duterte's claim, saying the vice president «was not as specific so I'm not sure what she means.»

But he said that CoA's annual audit reports would show if the department's budget was mishandled.

Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara. Photo from DepEd FB page

«It's the CoA who really knows if there was mishandling,» Angara told reporters.

«So when we appear in Congress, usually, in the House of Representatives, in the Senate, we are asked about those CoA reports. Those are the reports that will indicate if there has been any mishandling or not,» he added.

In a recent television interview, Duterte said the «mishandling» of the budget for 2024 was among her «long list of reasons» for resigning as DepEd chief.

Duterte resigned as DepEd chief on July 19. The vice president has since been openly assailing the Marcos administration.

She claimed the budget was mishandled and that she tried to correct it herself but did not gain the support of other government agencies.

However, the vice president did not elaborate on what she meant when the GAA for 2024 was mishandled, nor the efforts she claimed to have made.

On Monday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman disputed Duterte's allegations, pointing out that any adjustment in budget proposals depends on Congress.

Pangandaman said the DepEd under Duterte received a «huge increase» in the budget in 2024.

«In fact, from P711 billion in the National Expenditure Program (NEP), it became P715 billion in the GAA. What I can say is, it was quite a huge increase from its previous level in 2023,» she said.

Pangandaman said the government increased DepEd's appropriation for this year to support the department's Matatag Agenda.

The Education Department received P633.3 billion in 2022 and P676.1 billion in 2023.