House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin on Saturday rejected Vice President Sara Duterte’s recent claims that the government’s budget, particularly during her time as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), was mishandled.
“It’s clear that DepEd has always received the largest budget. If there were problems, they likely came from a lack of direction and a poor system of implementation,” Garin said.
“Fingerpointing and blaming others will bring us nowhere. Leadership is all about being captain of the ship,” she added.
Duterte, who recently resigned as DepEd Secretary, claimed that despite her efforts to address the problem of budget mishandling during her tenure, she received no support and witnessed no significant changes.
“If there were issues during VP Sarah’s tenure as DEPED Sec, why didn’t she raise them when she had the power to make changes?” Garin asked.
“It’s easy to claim a lack of support after the fact, but real leadership is about taking action and making a difference when it matters, not after you’ve stepped down,” Garin stressed.
Garin also stressed the importance of accountability. “DepEd had the resources, yet we saw little improvement in key areas like education quality and infrastructure.
According to Garin, oversight meetings on the DEPED budget revealed textbooks, school furnitures, learning materials, IT hardware amounting to billions, languishing for 2-3 years in various warehouses.
“If there was mismanagement, it’s time to own up to it and work on real solutions, not just criticize from the sidelines,” Garin said.
Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua meanwhile said destabilization efforts against the Marcos administration must stop.
During the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, Chua cited Vice President Sara Duterte’s observation that the current administration lacks a flood mitigation masterplan.
He said Duterte’s statement was “unfair and uncalled for.”
To the President’s credit, Chua said Mr. Marcos personally checked on the effects of the Super Typhoon Carina-induced monsoon rains that resulted in massive flooding in Metro Manila.
He also praised the President for his efforts to improve the Filipinos’ lives by providing assistance and looking for ways to generate more jobs in the country.
“If you look at it, our President is doing everything. He goes around, looking for investors,” he said.
Chua said Duterte should help Marcos instead of criticizing the government’s supposed shortcomings.
He added that Duterte would tarnish the country’s image if she continues to focus on attacking the Marcos administration.
“The way I see it, destabilization efforts will have a bad impact on our image because businessmen would think that our government is not stable. And to think that the ones squabbling are the President and the Vice President,” the lawmaker said.
