Two Congressmen are urging Vice President Sara Duterte to address the P5.6 billion in wasted food supplies during her tenure as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary, saying her lamentations of “political targeting” are clearly meant to camouflage the real issue – accountability.
Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V pressed Duterte to confront the failures of DepEd’s feeding program, which squandered billions of pesos meant to provide essential nutrition to needy students.
The two solons, touted as among the Lower House’s “Young Guns,” urged the Vice President to stop fabricating the narrative of a non-existent “Makabayan-Marcos-Romualdez alliance,” and instead focus on addressing the damning findings from the Commission on Audit.
COA’s audit report showed significant lapses in the 2023 DepEd feeding program, uncovering defective food items such as moldy, insect-infested E-Nutribuns, rotting food, and mislabeled packaging, depriving students in Aurora, Bulacan, Misamis Oriental, Iligan and Quezon City of essential nutrition.
“Instead of teaching others, it is better for Vice President Duterte to face the truth. About P5.6 billion worth of food was wasted and was not used by the children. As the leader of DepEd then, he should have ensured that the implementation of the project would be correct. This is clearly a command responsibility. This is not a matter of politics, but of the proper use of public funds,” Khonghun said.
For his part, Ortega cited the Marcos administration’s continued efforts to assist the poor and alleviate poverty, noting that Speaker Martin Romualdez has been instrumental in driving these initiatives forward.
He said the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) is a key example of how the government delivers services directly to the people.
The BPSF recently brought P1.2 billion in services and financial aid to 250,000 beneficiaries in Davao City, marking the 23rd installment of the nationwide initiative.
“These are the types of programs making a real difference. Under the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and with the strong support of Speaker Romualdez, the administration is bringing tangible relief to struggling families. This is also reflected in the recent drop in inflation,” Ortega said.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Lawmakers take VP Duterte to task for allegedly squandering DepEd funds”
