APPROVAL OF VP SARA’S CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS, INJUDICIOUS

The Senate and House panel approved a lump 2.3B sum for the 2023 Office of the Vice President budget three times more than the former OVP had. Sara Duterte, as Vice president and Education Secretary, must also have a “confidential fund” of P500 million and P150 million, respectively. Something none of her predecessors got to experience. Is this Sara’s conceit over her influence in Marcos’ election to the presidency talking? What is up with her confidential funds?

Initially, Sara Duterte assumed control of the Education Department as Secretary more confidently and effectively, which had the largest budget in the entire 2023 National Budget, and immediately stated that P800 billion was insufficient. Thus, the proposed confidential fund.

According to Rep. Elizaldy Co of the Ako Bicol Partylist Co, “That’s the decision of the House leadership to recover the funding since it’s difficult if young people are lured to choose the wrong path”. The aforementioned statement apparently implies that the funds will be utilized to deter students from being recruited by subversive movements and ultimately taking up arms against the government. That is undoubtedly a good thing since it is right to safeguard or protect the students from groups that continuously pursue to undermine our democracy. However, the Department of Education should only be concerned with issues related to advancing education alone, not security, hence this task falls outside its scope. VP Sara’s assertion of an additional P650 million to cope with “national security” problems, therefore, are not her office’s responsibility but rather those of the commander-in-chief and the uniformed services. The president does not appear to mind VP Sara’s overreach, or maybe his indulgence and nonchalance tacitly express his debt of gratitude for his VP, following the recent 2022 National Elections. Similarly, Congress shied away from engaging in conflict with the alleged heir to the throne a new low for Congress, as it now serves as the Duterte’s rubber stamp.

The confidential funds are generally used for military, law enforcement, and intelligence collecting purposes; they are definitely not intended for the OVP or

DepEd. Otherwise, there is a major disconnect, a violation of principles, or a misuse of taxpayers’ money as the said funds are potential elements of corruption since their use is veiled in secrecy and their audit is, as Liberal Party president and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman puts it, “conducted privately, just between the audited and the auditor.” Moreover, these confidential and intelligence funds will be collected from already heavily taxed Filipino people. Thus, they have all the right to know where their perspirations and hard work are allocated for and the transparency of disbursement.

True enough, greed is like an avalanche that carries everything and everyone with it. Due to VP Sara’s priority of confidential funds that will solely be used in ways that she would know, she just stripped off the budget of SPED learners or students with disabilities, demonstrating her imprudence and the Congress’ injudicious deliberation.

RHONA DE JUAN

According to data collected by the statistics office on August 15, 2022, at least 19.99 million Filipinos were categorized as poor in 2021 as the prevalence of poverty increased to 18.1 percent. The number is greater than the 16.7% poverty incidence in the most recent survey, which was conducted in 2018 and represented 17.7 million poor Filipinos. In response to the rising records of poverty, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) devise a program to distribute P168 million in financial aid to 66,000 underprivileged students nationwide (Depasupil, 2022). Poor elementary children can get P1,000, high school students can receive P2,000, and seniors in high school and college can receive P3,000 and P4,000, respectively. (Manahan, 2022). The initiative is designed to support underprivileged students across the country, which means that children from lowincome households will receive financial aid to purchase the materials they require for school. Erwin Tulfo, the secretary of social welfare and development, claims that low-income children, single parents, people with disabilities (PDWs), ill or elderly people, tricycle drivers, and those working in the laundry industry are all eligible recipients of the programs. As long as they are in need, those who are not participants in the Pantawid Pami- organization alone identified 24,000 low-income students who may take part in the program.

However, the intended opening day of the DSWD’s disbursement of financial aid up to P4,000 for students descended into chaos (Martinez, 2022). Overcrowding caused by the DSWD’s disorganized distribution of educational aid results in people being sent home by the agency injured and frustrated. Nevertheless, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) came up with a strategy to avoid the same kind of pandemonium by instructing Filipinos who would like to avail the program not to physically visit the department’s offices as they may register to get aid online. To be able to provide assistance to the students in need right away, the standards have also been streamlined.

Following the DSWD’s announcement that it would provide monetary help to elementary, high school, and college students as they returned to class for the new academic year, thousands of students, parents, and guardians waited up. But while they were holding out for their monetary help, problems started to arise. The program’s grantees have voiced their objections, and some have fainted from heat exhaustion standing in line while waiting for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s educational help. A rush at Barangay Tetuan, Zamboanga City, where the DSWD’s local team was supposed to deliver the funds, resulted in 29 injuries, while over 5,000 parents and students descended on the agency’s main headquarters in Barangay Batasan Hills, Quezon City (Martinez, 2022). College freshman Jaylord Acob, who is enrolled at Cagayan State University, claimed that the lines and cash distribution were chaotic and caused congestion. Without emergency medical personnel around, some students and several of their guardians collapsed. At the Social Wefare and Development satellite office in Iligan City, patients had to wait until health and safety officers arrived before they could receive care. Despite a warning that certain categories of individuals shouldn’t attend for safety reasons, there were also minors and elderly people waiting in line for the aid delivery. Only 4,000 of the 12,000 students that arrived at the four field offices in the region, according to DSWD - Region II, could be accommodated as of 7 a.m. cutoff. Thus, after

OPINION — EDITORIAL

being advised to send their children home owing to congestion and a few medical emergencies, parents of students voiced their disappointment.

Numerous people in Mindanao cities spent the entire night in line for DSWD assistance. Two days before to the commencement of courses on Saturday, August 20, citizens in Cagayan de Oro City had gathered in a queue outside the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) the previous evening.

According to the police, 5,000 people lined up outside the DSWD office in uptown Cagayan de Oro Northern Mindanao region in order to get financial help designed for students from lowincome households. While queuing up, some people passed out. The same scenario occurred in General Santos, a city in SOCCSKSARGEN, where misunderstanding and annoyance hampered the DSWD’s provision of educational financial aid. The DSWD established three relief distribution facilities in the city, and thousands of residents of General Santos and Sarangani province came there. Numerous people lined up outside a nearby DSWD office in Koronadal City in the early morning. As soon as the office doors opened, everyone there jostled and shoved one another. However, although many critics denounced the program’s alleged lack of preparation, which resulted in incidents of congestion and even injury to qualifying indigents around the Philippines. “This demonstrates how desperate our people are. They will actually take advantage of all the government aid that has been promised to them. Therefore, the DSWD should enhance its systems while also adhering to all COVID-19 rules”. Therefore, to prevent disruption in the provision of educational financial help, the DSWD discourages walk-ins and offers online registration. The DSWD and the DILG also signed a memorandum of agreement to coordinate their efforts in giving out the educational financial aid in order to avoid a similar tumult and ensure a smooth distribution. The LGUs will be used to reduce the length of the lines, and Benhur Abalos Jr., the secretary of the DILG, has also requested assistance from the Philippine National Police and advised the people to be more orderly and helpful. The DSWD hopes that by making these efforts, the agreement with the DILG would enable them to guarantee a safer and more efficient system for everyone.