P3.2B nasayang? Makabayan bloc seeks probe on DepEd’s spending of Bayanihan 1, 2 funds

By Billy Begas

Members of the Makabayan bloc led by ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro have filed a resolution seeking congressional probe on the reported lapses of the Department of Education (DepEd) in utilizing its funds for the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP).

In House Resolution 2182, the lawmakers urged the House Committees on Public Accounts and on Basic Education and Culture to jointly conduct the investigation.

The resolution said that the Commission on Audit (COA) found numerous lapses in DepEd’s utilization of funds under the Bayanihan 1 and 2 amounting to P3.2 billion.

COA also flagged the flawed, incomplete, delayed procurement, reproduction and delivery of Self-Learning Module (SLMs) amounting to P886.4 million.

“Whereas, it should be noted that the consequences of these errors, lapses, delays, irregularities, and flaws in budget utilization and accounting all are borne by public school teachers,” the resolution read.

The COA noted that all these “affect the overall effective implementation of BE-LCP adopted by the Department to relentlessly carry out its mandate of providing quality basic education in spite of the pandemic crisis.”

“Whereas, these observations brought to light in the 2020 AAR (Annual Audit Report) are additional proof that public education and its teachers and personnel are being under supported despite being overworked,” the resolution further read.

The main agency’s mandate to see to it that free and quality education continues despite the pandemic, the lawmakers said “appears to have a minimal sense of urgency at a time of crisis and emergency.”

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)