MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education has faced scrutiny during its 2025 budget hearing after it was revealed that nearly P9 billion worth of laptop and e-learning equipment remain undelivered.
House Appropriations Senior Vice Chair Rep. Stella Quimbo also voiced frustration over the sluggish use of regular DepEd funds during Duterte’s administration, contrasting it with the rapid allocation of confidential funds.
Quimbo said that, according to the 2023 Commission on Audit report, P37.7 billion in funds were either delayed or left unutilized across various programs of the department.
“This is a big crisis; we cannot waste funds, we cannot waste time. It’s saddening that when it comes to the COA report, one of the biggest findings in 2023 was low utilization, meaning slow use of funds, leading to wasted funds and wasted time, Quimbo said.
During the hearing, it was found that the laptops and e-learning equipment were intended for use in 2023 but it is still undelivered to this day.
Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro pointed to delays in providing essential ICT resources as a contributing factor to the Philippines’ low PISA scores, noting that these assessments are conducted as computer-based tests.
DepEd ICT Director Ferdinand Pitagan reported that the student-to-computer ratio is currently 1:9, and the teacher-to-computer ratio is even worse at 1:30.
The 2023 COA report also showed that the DepEd Computerization Program used only 50.07 percent of its budget and made no significant progress.
Aside from ICT issues, DepEd faced problems with classroom construction and repairs in 2023.
COA said that only 192 out of the 6,379 proposed classrooms were completed. Efforts to repair classrooms were similarly inadequate, with only 208 of the 7,550 repairs finished.
The rest are either still being repaired (2,135) or waiting for procurement (5,207). These delays have led to an estimated shortfall of P816 million under the Basic Education Facilities Fund.
Vice President Sara Duterte, who had been leading DepEd since assuming office, resigned on June 19. She was succeeded by Sen. Sonny Angara, who is now addressing the issues left by Duterte in the department.
