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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider The audacity! Tinio hits VP Duterte for complaining about state of Philippine education

The audacity! Tinio hits VP Duterte for complaining about state of Philippine education

Published Aug 19, 2025 01:37 pm

At A Glance

  • House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio has castigated Vice President Sara Duterte for saying that the Philippine education system has become stuck at "paper and pencil" level.
Vice President Sara Duterte (leftl), ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Vice President Sara Duterte (leftl), ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)


House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio has castigated Vice President Sara Duterte for saying that the Philippine education system has become stuck at "paper and pencil" level.
For Tinio, Vice President Duterte has no right to complain about the status of education, having recently held the position of Department of Education (DepEd) secretary, and--as far as the Makabayan solon is concerned--being the worst one ever.
"Vice President Duterte has the audacity to criticize the education system when she herself is the worst DepEd secretary ever," Tinio said in a statement Tuesday, Aug. 19
"VP Duterte even failed to deliver even a fraction of what was expected of her during her tenure as education scretary. Walang karapatan magreklamo ang taong hindi nagtrabaho (People who dont work have no right to complain)," he said.
The lady official was DepEd chief from June 2022 to July 2024. She has since turned into an administration critic.
The ACT Teachers representative cited the damning Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) report, which revealed DepEd's abysmal budget utilization under Duterte's leadership.
For instance, disbursement rates for textbook and learning materials delivery were recorded at only 11 percent to 17 percent in 2023 and 2024.
"How can she complain about our students lacking access to modern technology when she couldn't even ensure they had basic textbooks and learning materials? Paano niya nasabing kulang tayo sa teknolohiya eh hindi nga niya naibigay ang mga pangunahing pangangailangan ng mga estudyante?" Tinio asked.
(How could he say we lack technology when he hasn’t even provided the students’ basic needs?)
According to the Commission on Audit (COA) the DepEd under Vice President Duterte finished building just 192 out of its target of 6,379 new classrooms in 2023.
“Mas inatupag pa niya ang confidential funds sa DepEd sa halip ng learning crisis (She focused more on DepEd's confidential funds than the learning crisis). You are definitely the worst Deped secretary ever!!” said Tinio.
"Under her watch, school-based feeding programs achieved only 48 percent implementation while billions of pesos allocated for education remained unutilized. Ang mga batang gutom at walang aklat, paano matututo ng robotics at coding?" Tinio stated.
(How would kids who are hungry and lacking book learn about robotics and coding?)
"She speaks of high school students who cannot read, but conveniently ignores that this learning crisis worsened under her leadership. The UNICEF statistics she cites are an indictment of her own performance, not just the educational system," he added.
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