Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday, November 14 reiterated her call for her colleagues to reconsider realigning the P150-million worth of confidential fund that is lodged under the proposed 2023 budget for the Department of Education (DepEd).

Hontiveros pointed out the concurrent Secretary of DepEd, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, herself said that the agency will leave it to Congress to decide what to do on the proposed confidential fund under the DepEd.

“Since the issue of the confidential funds were raised, the DepEd was firm in its belief that confidential funds were legal and that they need the fund to protect the learners,” Hontiveros said during the continuation of the Senate’s debates on the proposed 2023 national budget.

“So I hope our colleagues in the Senate will share the view that there are no extraordinarily compelling reasons to provide a confidential fund to the education agency,” she stressed.

Prior to making this appeal, Hontiveros thanked Senator Pia Cayetano, who defended the DepEd’s 2023 budget, for introducing amendments increasing the budgets of at least the five attached agencies—amounting to around P911.86-million—and putting some funds into some advocacies she shares with other lawmakers.

“I took note and was grateful for the additional funding for teachers’ training on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS education, the pooling of registered guidance counselors and other school-based mental health programs, the

institutional support of CSO-NGOs engaged in the accountability monitoring of school building projects, and others,” she said.

“However, Madam Chair, I would like to follow up on some concerns I inquired about during the budget hearing last September 29,” she pointed out.

“For one, the calls for the realignment of DepEd’s confidential funds remain in the public discussion,” she reiterated.

Hontiveros has advocated that the DepEd’s confidential funds be realigned to the Indigenous Peoples (IP) education program, while the others wanted it to be put in the Special Education Program or the Child Protection Unit. She said the agency can rely with other government agencies to fulfill the role of securing the welfare of students.

Cayetano responded saying she has brought the matter to the attention of the body during a recent caucus of Senate members.

“And there are a number of proposals (regarding DepEd’s confidential funds) so that remains for us to determine,” Cayetano said.