Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman announced on Monday that the Department of Education (DepEd) budget for fiscal year 2024 has been increased to support the MATATAG K-10 curriculum introduced by Vice President Sara Duterte.
Pangandaman’s statement followed Vice President Duterte’s resignation as DepEd chief, citing issues with the budget management among her reasons.
“What I can say is that the P700 billion was a significant increase from the previous level in 2023 because it was when the MATATAG Program was launched. That’s why we allocated funds for it in 2024,” Pangandaman explained.
The DepEd Office of the Secretary received P715.3 billion under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
In an interview aired on “24 Oras” on August 8, Duterte mentioned multiple reasons for her resignation, including personal issues, DepEd-related matters, budget concerns, and national interests.
“The list is long and it has different categories: personal between me and the President, DepEd-related, budget-related, and country-related,” Duterte said.
Pangandaman emphasized that the DBM respects Congress’s authority regarding budget adjustments.
“Of course, in the GAA process, we respect the wisdom of Congress whenever they make adjustments to the budget,” she said.