Vice President Sara Duterte’s use of ₱112.5 million in Department of Education (DepEd) confidential funds has come under sharp scrutiny in the Senate impeachment court, with revelations that the money was diverted into surveillance and counterinsurgency programs.
According to documentary evidence presented during trial, ₱37.5 million was disbursed per quarter in 2023 to finance projects ranging from “abuse prevention and control” to “anti-terrorism and extremism operations.”
Scholars for Peace, a coalition of academics, expressed alarm that the allocations were used to conduct background checks on teachers and learners — a practice they say weaponizes education against its own personnel.
“This is corruption, plain and simple,” the group declared, warning that scarce education resources were misused to tag educators as terrorists instead of addressing the deepening classroom crisis.
They argued that the confidential funds could have been directed toward raising teacher salaries and improving student welfare.
The controversy underscores how the government’s “whole-of-nation approach” to counterinsurgency has blurred the lines between military and civilian governance.
The group insisted that DepEd should never have been drawn into security operations, calling the practice a betrayal of public trust and a gateway to human rights violations.
As the impeachment proceedings continue, the coalition urged conviction, stressing that education budgets must serve students, not red-tagging and corruption.
“For this, Sara Duterte must be convicted by the Senate impeachment court,” the group declared. # (ZIA LUNA)
