Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte and former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte (Composite image from file photos)
MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte said that his daughter, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte was planning to use her offices’ proposed confidential funds for the revival of the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.
“Binasa ko ‘yung rationale, ang plano niya, unahan ko na lang — so I’m sorry I have to divulge this because binigay mo naman sa’kin, then I just make it public— gamitin niya ang pera, it’s only P125 million, gamitin niya sa mga PMT (Philippine Military Training), palakasin niya sa high school, pati ibalik talaga niya ‘yung ROTC,” said Duterte in an interview with SMNI.
(I read the rationale, her plan — I’ll go ahead, so I’m sorry I have to divulge this because you gave it to me, so I’ll just make it public — was to use the money, it’s only P125 million, she will use it for PMT, she will strengthen it in high school, she will really bring back the ROTC.)
“Ipipilit niya (she will insist) to make it compulsory,” he added.
The former president, however, said he told her daughter that her plan would take a long process as the mandatory ROTC has been scrapped since 2002, to which the younger Duterte said she merely aims to create a “soft landing.”
The proposed confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education for fiscal year 2024 was P500 million and P150 million, respectively.
The proposals were discussed extensively, resulting in heated clapbacks between some lawmakers and the vice president.
The House of Representatives eventually decided to give zero confidential funds to several civilian agencies of the government, including the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) and instead redirected it to agencies at the forefront of protecting the West Philippine Sea and maintaining peace and order in the country.
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