A House leader on Friday strongly criticized Vice President Duterte for claiming that the budget of the Department of Education (DepEd), under her stewardship, had been mishandled notwithstanding her efforts to rectify it.

House Assistant Majority Leader Angelo Jil Bonglon, the vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, called into question the timeliness of Duterte voicing such concern when she had all the time to do so during her stint as DepEd chief. Duterte resigned from the post on 19 June and was later replaced by seasoned lawmaker Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara.

"If there were indeed budget issues, why raise them only now? It's easy to blame others, but real leadership is about finding solutions and taking responsibility," Bongalon lamented.

Duterte claimed that the national budget, as detailed in the General Appropriations Act, has been mishandled, leading to inefficiencies and unresolved issues in various departments. 

The VP said that despite her efforts to address the problems during her term as DepEd secretary, it did not succeed due to a lack of support from the concerned agencies and top officials.

Bongalon, however, countered that if Duterte's allegations were true, it could have been negotiated as early as possible.

"What's wrong? You never mentioned anything like that before. In fact, it was mostly your undersecretaries who were speaking, making it seem like you weren't aware of what was happening in DepEd," Bongalon said. 

The Ako Bicol solon also criticized Duterte for her apparent lack of leadership, specifically for refusing to answer lawmakers' queries during the past two budget deliberations of the OVP and DepEd.

"You were in charge, yet all we heard were statements from your undersecretaries. It seems like you were disconnected from the actual operations of DepEd," Bongalon added.

Duterte also came under fire for failing to resolve the underlying issues in the DepEd, particularly the Philippines' poor performance in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment, a periodic international comparative study that tests 15-year-olds' ability to use their knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics, and science.

"DepEd had nearly two years to improve our students' proficiency levels, yet we still ranked near the bottom globally. And this happened under your watch, on the very day you resigned as DepEd Secretary," Bongalon said.

Duterte's departure from the DepEd, which she headed for nearly two years, coincided with the publication of PISA's global study in 2022, showing that the 15-year-old students lagged in creative thinking with a mean of 14 points, drastically distant from the average score of 33 set forth by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The country's neighbor, Singapore, landed in the top spot among 64 countries with 41 points.

Apart from poor leadership, Bongalon slammed Duterte for purportedly relying on Parents-Teachers Associations to solicit funds for basic classroom needs. 

"These should be provided by the agency, not by the parents. This is a clear sign of poor management," Bongalon said. 

House leaders earlier stated that Duterte, who was never scrutinized during the budget hearings out of parliamentary courtesy, will never be given a free pass again. 

"Her OVP budget must be scrutinized for every peso spent and not spent," Manila Rep. Joel Chua lamented. 

"No more and never again shall the VP not be held to the same level of scrutiny as other public officials during the budget hearings," he added, alluding to the millions of pesos in confidential funds enjoyed by her office in 2022 and 2023 before these were removed this year.

Meanwhile, the chairperson of the panel, Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, advised Angara to scrutinize the 2025 budget of DepEd, which was prepared by Duterte, to ensure that the "budget directly solves the quality crisis in our country's public K to 12 schools."