DepEd Will No Longer Accept PAGCOR Donations For Classrooms

Education Department will stop accepting donations from PAGCOR for classrooms as public education system.

Department of Education Secretary Leonor Briones said on Friday that the agency will no longer accept donations from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) for classrooms.

Briones who is a noted educator and former national treasurer of the Philippines, has been outspoken in her views against gambling.

In an interview, Briones explained the policy change regarding the use of PAGCOR funds.

File photo of PAGCOR classrooms
File photo of PAGCOR classrooms

“The shortage of classrooms is a function of efficiency. It’s not because we need them very, very badly. Because we are provided for by government and there are many other donors as well,” Briones said .

She noted that the state gaming agency is not the only institution donating classrooms. Besides, Pagcor also has different standards for building classrooms, compared to those built by DepEd.

Despite of this, Briones clarified that she will respect previous donations made before her term.

“Nandyan na [It’s already there]. But during my watch… Maybe if I’m removed then they can come back,” she said.

The secretary revealed she has also asked President Rodrigo Duterte to order the fast removal of online lottery outlets near schools.

“I said during the Cabinet meeting that they (lottery outlets) should not be located near schools or near areas where students congregate.”

She stressed, that schools should “teach them [children] honesty, discipline, etcetera… and then you give them hopes of becoming (rich instantly) . . . and you can see in the lines of people going to buy… you can see there are a number of young people as well.”

For 2017, the Education department targets to build 47,492 classrooms.

Under the previous administration, more than 118,686 were constructed and 66,463 classrooms were under an ongoing procurement process.

On the proposed 2017 national annual budget, DepEd is seeking P566.2 billion, including the P23.9 billion automatic appropriations.

DepEd has the biggest outlay in the 2017 budget, aiming to finish more than 47,000 rooms by next year.

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