VICE President Sara Duterte will have to do good in her excuses amid a long list of Notices of Disallowance for which the Commission on Audit (COA) issued an order to the Department of Education (DepEd) to return P12.3 billion from its 2023 budget immediately.
According to COA, transactions covered by the P12.3 billion fund were suspended and disallowed because the agency failed to adhere to certain bidding processes and meet its targets for various projects.
Under the 2023 audit report, COA issued notices of suspension amounting to P10.1 billion; notices of disallowance totaling P2.2 billion, and notices of charges worth P7.38 million due to “noncompliance with existing laws and regulations” in the implementation of “banner projects.”
The state auditors also took note that the total flagged amount, which accounted for only 1.7 percent of the P710.6-billion DepEd budget, has yet to be settled even after agency officials committed to turn over the funds in question.
“We recommended, and the management agreed, to cause the immediate settlement of the suspensions, disallowances, and charges under the revised RRSA (Rules and Regulations on Settlement of Accounts),” reads part of the audit report.
Under the COA rules, disallowance refers to the audit of disbursements and transactions that were not approved “in whole or in part.”
Suspensions, on the other hand, are “temporary disallowance” of transactions presenting “doubtful legality, validity or propriety,” until the liable agencies can justify or meet the requirements in the course of auditing.
Specific agency officers, meanwhile, receive notices of charge when there is an amount assessed, billed, or collected that is “less than what is due the government.”
“Lapses” were also found in the handling, recording, and reporting of cash transactions in various regional offices, and the accumulation of unliquidated cash advances that were either not authorized or had no specific purpose amounting to nearly P7 billion in violation of COA rules.
According to COA, a recommendation has been forwarded to DepEd to stop the practice of granting additional cash advances, especially when the liquidation of past transactions are not yet completed.
The COA said the salaries of the concerned accountable officers should also be withheld, among other penalties, “until such time that they have fully liquidated or settled their liabilities.”
COA’s list of flagged projects included DepEd’s computerization program, which had only a 23.3-percent budget utilization rate; the “Last Mile Schools” program, where the construction of classrooms in far-flung schools had a completion rate of only 3 percent, and the delay and inefficiencies in the implementation of the Basic Education Facilities Fund and the School-Based Feeding Program.
The same report tagged DepEd’s “zero-accomplishment rate” in its computerization project “due to the (central office’s) inability to complete the procurement process for 2023.”
These “deficiencies,” it added, took a hit on the DepEd’s program to enhance the Filipino students’ information and communication technology competencies.
For its Last Mile Schools program, the COA cited a status report of DepEd’s education facilities division that showed only three out of the 93 intended classrooms were completed in 2023, 69 were ongoing, and the remaining 21 were still under bidding.
Last Mile Schools are makeshift classrooms in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas that were revamped into “standard” ones to ensure quality learning for students.
From 2018 up to 2023, DepEd’s program for the repair and rehabilitation of school buildings called the Basic Education Facilities Fund, also suffered from “poor implementation, deficiencies in the electrification” of facilities, and “lapses” in the inspection, delivery, and safekeeping of procured school furniture.
For DepEd’s School-Based Feeding Program, the COA said that the agency’s “commitment to provide good nutrition to learners was not optimally achieved” because of the delays in the “regular and milk feeding components” in 21 schools division offices, failure to abide by the technical requirements of the project and the “non-programming of unutilized funds.”
Meanwhile, House assistant minority leader Rep. Arlene Brosas supported calls for a congressional inquiry into the DepEd’s bidding processes from 2022 to 2024, the duration of Duterte’s stint, for the procurement of some P9.17 billion worth of 20,000 laptop computers.
During a House briefing for DepEd’s proposed P793.18-billion 2025 budget, Brosas revealed that 12,022 laptops for teachers and 7,558 for non-teaching staff remain undelivered, “making it nearly impossible to effectively implement e-learning systems that are vital for student learning.”
Sen. Risa Hontiveros meanwhile warned officials who used the P112 million in confidential funds of DepEd for 2023.
“Some officials of the agency cannot just wash their hands regarding the issue involving the use of confidential funds. If it was not used correctly and properly, those who participated in its use should be held accountable,” the senator said.
Duterte has yet to issue a statement on the 2023 COA report. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
