DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)

Ranking solons in the House of Representatives couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened to the proposed 2025 budget of the Department of Education (DepEd) if Vice President Sara Duterte did not resign as agency asecretary.

Citing Duterte’s snub of ongoing budget deliberations, as well as her refusal to directly answer questions about her budget usage, lawmakers said the education sector could have faced a bleak scenario had things stayed the same. 

Deputy Speaker and Quezon 2nd district Rep. David Suarez, in particular, feared that Duterte’s accountability issues could have put millions of teachers, students, and schools at risk.

“Kaya iniisip ko, kung hindi siya nag-resign sa DepEd at ganito rin ang mangyari sa budget ng DepEd, ano kaya ang nangyari?,” Suarez asked during a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

(So I'm thinking, if she didn't resign from DepEd and the same thing happened to the DepEd budget, what would have happened?)

He questioned how DepEd would have managed under Duterte’s leadership given her current lack of engagement with the lower chamber.

“Halos isang milyon na teachers yata ang umaasa sa DepEd budget, at hindi lang ‘yung mga teachers, pati ‘yung mga bata, mga paaralan, at mga magulang na umaasa sa maayos na edukasyon,” noted Suarez.

(Almost a million teachers depend on the DepEd budget, and not only the teachers, but also the children, schools, and parents who depend on proper education.)

Because of this, Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun expressed relief that former Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara now leads the department.

“Buti na lang at si Secretary Angara ‘yung Secretary ng [DepEd] (Fortunately, Secretary Angara is now the DepEd Secretary), Khonghun said.

“Nakita naman talaga natin ‘yong pagbulusok pababa ng kalidad ng edukasyon nung si VP Sara pa ang namumuno sa DepEd,” he added, citing the decline in educational standards during her tenure.

(We really saw the decline in the quality of education when VP Sara was in charge of DepEd.)

Vice President Duterte resigned as secretary last June over a “long list of reasons”, including the supposed mishandling of the national budget. This marked her exit from the Cabinet of President Marcos—her “UniTeam” partner during the 2022 national elections.

For his part, Assistant Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V pointed out that this could all just be a question of leadership—and not necessarily on Duterte’s roles.

“Can you lead the department? Can you lead your office? Kaya mo bang i-lead ang Pilipinas? Kaya mo bang i-lead ‘yung constituency mo?,” wondered Ortega.

(Can you lead the Philippines? Can you lead your constituency?)

“So kung may problema ka bilang leader, paano ‘yung mga umaasa sa iyo at saka mga nasa likod mo? (So if you have a problem as a leader, what about those who depend on you and then those behind you?) So it’s a leadership problem and a leadership question,” he stressed.