Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel expressed his disappointment over the restoration of the confidential and intelligence funds of the Department of Education.
“Disappointing yan. I will still need to get more details about the bicam report,” PImentel said in a statement.
Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co said that the bicameral committee approved the restorations of the funds to prevent students from being recruited into scrupulous groups.
“Well, that’s the decision of the House na ituloy because mahirap na ‘yong mga kabataan natin ma-recruit papunta sa maling landas. So, we want DepEd to spearhead the — kasi ang ating mga kabataan ‘di ba, napupunta rin sa maling landas — so, we want them to secure the future of our children,” Co said.
The Senate previously realigned the confidential funds for the department and left P30 billion to the education department.
Some lawmakers said that intelligence gathering is the mandate of intel agencies and not of DepEd.
