The mass mobilization conducted last September 23rd in front of the House of Representatives, led by the Bagong Alyansa Makabayan (BAYAN), is just the beginning of the growing discontent of the masses with Sara Duterte’s term as Vice President.
The legacy of a worsened educational crisis and misuse of people’s money
Since Sara Duterte was appointed as the Department of Education (DepEd) secretary, anomalies and discrepancies in the agency’s expenditures have been occurring consecutively. From the Php 1.5 million worth of computers left unutilized in a DepEd warehouse, to the 1.6 billion-Peso anomaly in the agency’s computerization program. The Commission on Audit (COA) report also recorded Php 12.3 billion in “disallowances and suspensions” from the agency’s Php 710.6 billion budget for 2023. In addition, the COA issued a Notice Of Disallowance due to the misuse of 73 million-Peso confidential intelligence funds (CIF) from the Office of the Vice President (OVP). The P73 million is only a part of the total P237 million being investigated by the COA which was used in a questionable manner.
When asked about the use of the 125 million-Peso CIF during the OVP budget hearing, she did not address it directly. It can be recalled that in 2022, the OVP used up Php 125 million in just 11 days. Worse, Sara Duterte was a no-show at the second budget hearing, a manifestation that she does not want to be accountable to the people, and that she truly has no knowledge nor conscientiousness of running her office and agency.
Despite the generous allocation of budget for DepEd, and it still having the largest budget for 2024, the entry-level monthly income of Php 27,000 for public school teachers could have already been adjusted to a family living wage. Also, the significant deficit of 159,000 schools nationwide could have been resolved. Above all, the worsening educational crisis in the country could have been addressed. Instead, aside from squandering public money, Sara Duterte has promoted militarization and red-tagging, especially in Lumad schools. She claims that these are terrorist “breeding grounds”, which justifies the continued killings of Lumads and their forced displacement from their homes. The standpoint of Sara Duterte is no different from her father’s, former President Rodrigo Duterte, regarding the oppression and massacre of indigenous people and ancestral lands.
‘Marcos-Duterte, walang pinag-iba’
Marcos Jr. is no different than Duterte as he pressures his allies in the congress and senate to pass his budget. It is pertinent to mention that the proposed confidential fund for the office of President Marcos Jr. is worth P10.29 billion for the year 2025, and it has already been ratified by the Senate. Sara Duterte also bears no difference from his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte in plundering the people’s taxes. The Marcos-Duterte alliance was made to amass wealth from the Filipino people. They ensure to maintain the status quo and connive with the affluent at the expense of the Filipino people. With the meager increase in wages, the bold claim that a Filipino family can only survive on a measly P64 per day, and the public funds that must be allocated for basic social services and not confidential funds, it is only right for the masses to demonstrate their resistance to the current regime and assert for genuine representation that addresses their needs.
Therefore, the Filipino people must unite and build a true opposition from the vulnerable, marginalized, and disenfranchised. We must unite and build our ranks to advance the people’s agenda and the protection of the rights of the Filipino people.