News Roundup 04 September 2024
Sep 04, 2024 • 5 min Read
COA to DepEd: Return P12.3-B misused budget | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered the Department of Education (DepEd) to immediately remit to the government some P12.3 billion from its 2023 budget that was suspended and disallowed due to the agency’s failure to adhere to certain bidding processes and meet its targets for various projects.
Based on its audit report on DepEd for 2023, the last full year of Vice President Sara Duterte as head of the agency, state auditors 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 several banner projects.
Its review on the enforcement of the notices of suspensions, disallowances, and charges found that the total flagged amount, which accounted for only 1.7 percent of the P710.6-billion budget allocated to DepEd last year, “remained unsettled,” despite an acknowledgment from DepEd officials that it would turn over the funds in question.
Unliquidated advances
“We recommended, and the management agreed, to cause the immediate settlement of the suspensions, disallowances, and charges in accordance with the revised RRSA (Rules and Regulations on Settlement of Accounts),” state auditors noted in the report.
Under the COA’s RRSA, a disallowance refers to the audit of disbursements and transactions that were thumbed down “in whole or in part.”
Full Story at: COA to DepEd: Return P12.3-B misused budget (inquirer.net)
Quiboloy’s conditions before facing charges are ‘immaterial,’ says Marcos | INQUIRER.NET – Manila, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. described as “immaterial” all of the conditions set by alleged sex-offender Apollo Quiboloy before he faces the criminal charges filed against him.
The president made the pronouncement after Quiboloy previously said he would face the cases provided that government issued a written declaration that he would not be “extraordinarily rendered” to the United States.
“All of these conditions that he is putting in are immaterial,” Marcos said in a chance interview.
He spoke about the matter while conducting an aerial inspection of Metro Manila to determine the effects of severe storm Enteng and the southwest monsoon.
According to Marcos, Quiboloy does not seem to understand the process of his arrest, stating that it is the court that should hear what he wants to say.
“Parang hindi nya yata masyadong naintindihan ang proseso na pagka nag-issue ang korte ng bench warrant… ng warrant of arrest… eh, it is out of our hands already. It is in the court’s hands,” Marcos said.
(It seems like he didn’t quite understand the process that when the court issues a bench warrant… a warrant of arrest… then, it is out of our hands already. It is in the court’s hands.)
Full Story at: Marcos: Quiboloy’s conditions before facing charges are immaterial (inquirer.net)
Sara-led DepEd built just 3% of classroom target | PHISTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education under Vice President Sara Duterte finished building just 192 out of its target of 6,379 new classrooms in 2023, according to the Commission on Audit’s report on the agency.
The department’s completion of just 3% of its target new classrooms in 2023 — Duterte’s first and only full-year term as DepEd chief — was “due to realignments because of modifications in the projects’ design,” the Commission on Audit (COA) said in its 2023 annual report.
At the time state auditors conducted their audit, at least 4,391 classrooms were still being built, while construction work had yet to begin for 550 (8%) projects still “under procurement” status.
State auditors also flagged DepEd for repairing only 208 out of its target of 7,550 classrooms. At least 2,135 were still being repaired, while a “very significant target” of 5,207 had yet to be procured, according to the COA.
The COA report also flagged DepEd’s failure to meet its 2023 target of delivering 580,394 school furniture, noting that while the furniture was supposed to arrive between May and June 2023, contracts were only finalized in December of that year. This pushed deliveries into the first quarter of 2024.
DepEd was also flagged by state auditors for its slow progress in building more Last Miles Schools, which are schools put up in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas to cater to students from remote areas.
Using its 2023 budget, DepEd had only built three out of its target of 88 Last Miles Schools, while the funds carried over from 2020 to 2022 were used to build 73 out of 189 schools. Duterte tagged the Last Miles Schools program as a priority of the department in November 2023.
The nationwide classroom shortage currently hovers around 159,000, based on DepEd’s latest estimates, with procurement lapses and difficulty scouting school sites often cited as roadblocks to constructing more school buildings.
Full Story at: Sara-led DepEd built just 3% of classroom target | Philstar.com
Quadcom compels Roque to attend next hearing with show cause order | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The House’s quad committee issued a show cause order to former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Wednesday, September 4, compelling him to attend the next public hearing and submit the requested documents.
During the fourth public hearing, where Roque was absent, House leaders of the mega panel denied the former spokesman’s motion to quash the committee’s subpoena for his documents following Rep. Gerville “Jinky” Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District) manifestations.
Luistro debunked Roque’s claim that the requested documents to submit were irrelevant to the investigation for two reasons.
She said there is “overwhelming circumstantial evidence of his connection to Lucky South,” a Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub.
Besides serving as a lawyer for Whirlwind, a real estate firm that leased land to Lucky South 99, lawmakers scrutinized the sudden increase in Roque’s assets.
In just four years, the assets of Roque’s corporation, Biancham Holdings and Trading, increased from P125,000 in 2014 to P67.7 million in 2018.
“At this point Mr. Chair, I maintained the documents which are being required are relevant to the subject matter of the investigation because if Atty. Harry Roque will not be able to prove the sources of his assets, then there is a possibility indeed that will support his connection to this POGO operation,” Luistro said.
Should the quad committee prove Roque’s involvement in POGO operations through the requested documents, Luistro said there may be a need to revisit laws related to anti-graft and corruption, the code of conduct for government officials, anti-money laundering rules, corporate law, and the code of ethics for lawyers.
Full Story at: Quadcom compels Roque to attend next hearing with show cause order | Philstar.com
