THE Department of Education’s (DepEd) role in military-led youth activities inside the Bangsamoro region raises a separate jurisdictional question because education powers there had already been devolved to the autonomous government when the questioned activities were conducted.⠀
House impeachment trial spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto-Adiong raised the issue in an interview with Brigada News Wednesday as he scrutinized the Youth Leadership Summits cited by DepEd in connection with P15.4 million in confidential-fund expenditures under Vice President Sara Duterte.⠀
“Kaya tama, kasi kaya nga, nabanggit yun. Sabi ko, may jurisdiction issue dito, may geographic overlap. Kasi sino yung unang-unang naatasan na maghandle sa public educational system, devolved na po yan, the powers yan. Meron na po tayong autonomy,” Alonto-Adiong told Brigada News FM.⠀
Under the Bangsamoro Education Code, the region’s education system is placed under the authority of the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE), which is mandated to oversee education policies, programs, and supervision of educational institutions within BARMM.⠀
Alonto-Adiong said that arrangement makes DepEd’s participation particularly important to explain where a Youth Leadership Summit was conducted inside Lanao del Sur, an area within the autonomous region.⠀“So ang pumapasok po dyan, ang meron po talagang supervision over all public schools within the Bangsamoro area ay ang MBHTE, yung na-mention niyo po na ahensya, yung ministry. So ang DepEd, hindi po dyan pwede pumasok,” Alonto-Adiong said.⠀
The prosecution has questioned certifications issued by military officers for Youth Leadership Summits and information and education activities that were later submitted by DepEd to the Commission on Audit (COA) as part of the documentation for the reported use of confidential funds.⠀According to Alonto-Adiong, activities involving schools and students inside BARMM should have been coordinated through the regional education authority, which would serve as the appropriate counterpart of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).⠀
“Klaro po, if ever na meron po ganun klaseng activity, dapat ang pinapartner po or ang partner ng AFP ay ang MBHTE, hindi po ang DepEd,” Alonto-Adiong said.⠀He added that the concern is further highlighted by testimonies indicating that local government units and other stakeholders were involved in identifying and supporting Youth Leadership Summit activities in their respective areas.⠀
“So, yun yung mga observation na nakita ko. So, dapat na, it should be the MBHTE that has to be the one sending participants into YLS because the area of coverage where the YLS is to be conducted is within the area of autonomy,” Alonto-Adiong said.⠀The prosecution is expected to continue examining why DepEd under Duterte linked its confidential-fund liquidation to activities conducted in areas where another education authority already exercised regional supervision.
metrosundaily
