Republic of the Philippines

Commission on Higher Education

Republic Colleges of Guinobatan, Inc.
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
G. Alban St., Iraya GUinobatan, Albay
Email Add: republiccolleges@yahoo.com

Proposals of Sara Duterte in education and innovation

"Improving access, equity, quality, resiliency and well-being will not happen overnight
nor can it be done by DepEd alone. We need a national commitment and sustained
effort from all sectors of the society," she added.
According to Duterte's presentation, "MATATAG" stands for the following:
MAke the curriculum relevant to produce job-ready, active and responsible citizens.
TAke steps to accelerate the delivery of basic education services and provision of
facilities.
TAke good care of learners by promoting learner well-being, inclusive education and a
positive learning environment.
Give support for teachers to teach better.
The DepEd plans to reduce the number of learning areas in the curriculum, and
strengthen literacy and numeracy programs
The agency will also continue to cooperate with the Commission on Higher Education
and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to address skills mismatch in
the senior high school (SHS) program.
Duterte said a separate strand was created within DepEd to resolve issues on facilities
and infrastructure.
The agency also plans to strengthen the "complementarity" between public and private
schools through its government assistance and subsidies programs, and the creation of
a separate office for the voucher program.
The DepEd will also ensure that students have access to psychosocial services and
strengthen inclusive education programs, such as the Alternative Learning System and
"last-mile schools," Duterte said.
She also reiterated the promise to relieve teachers of non-teaching tasks and
continuously provide them with professional development programs.
Duterte stressed that even before the "MATATAG" agenda, the DepEd had already
taken steps on education reforms, including the resumption of 5-days of in-person
classes in public schools.
The DepEd also implemented the National Learning Recovery Plan "to support the
efforts of our field offices in addressing learning loss," and began upskilling teachers.

Sara Duterte Regarding the loss of confidential funds

Later, Duterte dropped her request for P150 million in DepEd confidential funds for
2024, too. She expressed hope that the amount would be reallocated to the agency’s
learning programs to address the learning crisis.
Prior to that day, Duterte had staunchly defended herself amid criticism of the transfer of
P125 million in confidential funds from the Office of the President (OP) to the OVP in
December 2022, which the OVP spent in just 11 days. As if on combat mode, she had
also labeled critics of her 2022 confidential fund as “enemies of peace.”
Duterte had traded barbs with her critics and resorted to personal attacks as she tried to
veer attention from the heart of the issue – the legality of the December 2022 fund
transfer, which is now the subject of a petition before the Supreme Court. The
petitioners are seeking the return of the funds, citing the act as a “clear usurpation of
power of Congress.”

How OVP confidential funds are spent

When the issue of her use of P125 million confidential funds first surfaced in July,
Duterte responded to questions from critics through mostly blanket denials and
clapbacks, claiming that the issue was being politicized.
At some point, the Vice President said that the controversial fund worth P125 million in
2022 was spent for the “safe and secure” implementation of OVP’s projects, including
tree planting, Libreng Sakay, peace-building, disaster response, and similar activities.
But her critics did not buy her explanation. They said that if the funds were used for
OVP projects, then why did they have to be placed under confidential expense? Aside
from the usual OVP projects, Duterte said that schools in the Philippines were
confronted with problems with recruitment to local terrorist groups, which is why her
office pursued intelligence activities to this end.

In the end, however, she abandoned her confidential fund requests for 2024, stung by
the backlash that she, apparently, did not anticipate.

Another source

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has defended her use of confidential and
intelligence funds (CIF) and accused her critics of being “enemies of the state.”

Another issue was Duterte’s use of CIF in December 2022 because her office was not
supposed to have an item for this type of spending. The budget bill sponsor even
admitted that Duterte spent her CIF in just 11 days.

As more stakeholders expressed concern over the CIF allocation of Duterte and other
civilian agencies, leaders of major parties in the House of Representatives
have agreed to remove these controversial items and realign them to the funding
requirements of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, National Security
Council, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

In a joint statement, they cited the need to defend the country’s maritime borders in
the South China Sea (officially called West Philippine Sea in the Philippines) to
justify the transfer of the CIF of civilian agencies.

“Recognizing the rising security threats in the West Philippine Sea and the need to
secure top officials, these agencies are better positioned to counteract security threats,
protect our territorial waters, and secure the rights and access of Filipino fishermen to
traditional fishing grounds,” read the statement.
The main budget sponsor added, “Now is the time to give our intelligence community
the means to perform their duties, especially in these pressing times when we’re
facing serious concerns in the West Philippine Sea.”
Duterte did not comment when the amended budget bill was approved by the House
of Representatives on September 27. However, during an event at a regional police
station, she insisted that her office is entitled to get a CIF to address security threats
and create a safe learning environment for students and teachers.
She asserted too that CIF spending should not be restricted by “arbitrary timeframes.”
“The allocation of confidential funds should not be constrained by time. It matters not
whether it takes one day or one year of spending; what truly matters is the safety and
security of our people. We cannot cap the importance of protecting our citizens based
on arbitrary timeframes,” Duterte said in her speech.
She continued by accusing critics of CIF of being enemies of the state (“kalaban ng
bayan”).
“Anyone who attacks or undermines funds allocated for peace and order is naturally
assumed to have insidious motivations,” she said. “Such actions go against the
protection and well-being of our citizenry. Those who seek to compromise the
security and development of our nation jeopardize the very fabric of our society and
hinder our progress.”
Her combative stance could be attributed to the release of reports that she consistently
requested a large amount of CIFs when she was mayor of Davao City. It coincided
with her father’s term as the country’s president from 2016 to 2022.