DepEd says to spend on learning gadgets if given ‘white sand’ budget

The Department of Education (DepEd) said Monday it would prefer to spend millions of pesos on needed learning gadgets for students if it had the budget used for the dumping of synthetic white sand on Manila Bay.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said her department would have used the amount for the printing of learning modules and for the purchase of gadgets for students as the Philippine education system shifts to distance learning.

“Kung, halimbawa, may P389 million na ibibigay ang pamahalaan sa departamento, sigurado ako na malaking bahagi diyan mapupunta sa, halimbawa, sa pangangailangan ng gadgets,” Briones said in a Laging Handa press briefing.

(If, for example, the government gave DepEd P389 million, I’m sure a big part of the funding would be spent, for instance, on needed gadgets.)

“Hindi kami nakikialam sa budget ng may budget. Pero, kung may budget kami na ganoon kahalaga, pupunta ‘yan sigurado ako sa gadgets,” she said.

(I’m not meddling with the budget of others. But if we had the same amount, I’m sure that would go to gadgets.)

Briones made the remark as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ dumping of white sand on the baywalk of the Manila Bay drew flak from green groups and criticism from netizens as an unnecessary component of the rehabilitation project amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.