A DAVAO House leader and vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations on Sunday said Congress did its best to support the Department of Education (DepEd) budget amidst Vice President and former DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte’s criticisms of the administration.
“As the DepEd budget sponsor for the past two years, I fought hard to have its budget approved with minimal revisions. But its implementation was carried out solely by the Department,” Davao De Oro 1st District Rep. Maria Carmen “Maricar” S. Zamora, also a former Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) member, said.
Zamora pointed to Filipino students’ poor performance in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as a reflection of the department’s ineffective management.
She said the Philippines ranked 77th out of 79 countries in reading comprehension, 78th in science, and 79th in mathematics.
“The root causes of our educational challenges remained even after the tenure of Vice President Duterte as Education Secretary. The minimal progress made undermines her credibility when she criticizes the Marcos administration,” Zamora said.
Despite fully funded projects and programs for 2023 and 2024, the Department of Education left much to improve teacher training, resource allocation, curriculum updates and critical thinking development.
“These ongoing issues highlight the need for more effective educational reforms made possible through concrete leadership,” Zamora said.
Zamora called on Vice President Sara Duterte to contribute solutions to the issues she recently raised by participating in open discussions.
“Vice President Sara Duterte must look at how she can help the country by being open to discussing how to solve its problems instead of assigning blame. Real leadership means offering solutions, not just criticisms,” the House leader from Davao said.
