Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday defended the Department of Education&rsquo;s (DepEd) proposed P150 million confidential funds for 2024, underscoring that education is connected with national security.
&ldquo;Education is intertwined with national security. Napakahalaga na we mold patriotic children, children who will love and who defend our country,&rdquo; she told reporters when asked about the importance of the P150 million confidential funds.
Duterte did not discuss how the million-worth of funds will be operated as she cited that details are confidential in nature.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a joint memorandum circular with regard to confidential fund kung paano siya gagamitin at paano siya li-liquidate,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;
The Education Secretary said they are leaving the approval of the proposed budget to the decision of the two chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate.
&ldquo;Basta kami, nag-propose kami. Iiwan namin sa kanila ang desisyon,&rdquo; Duterte added.
DepEd, under the Vice President&rsquo;s leadership, also sought a P150 million confidential fund under its proposed 2023 budget.&nbsp;
Despite the Opposition Senators&rsquo; move to strike out the confidential fund last year, the Senate nonetheless approved it.
Aside from the education department, Duterte&rsquo;s Office of the Vice President (OVP) is also asking for P500 million of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) for 2024.&nbsp;

The Office of the President (OP) seeks P4.46 billion in CIF and the Department of Agriculture (DA) for P50 million.

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Duterte defends P150M confidential funds: ‘Education is intertwined with nat’l security’