The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday said it is now in the process of addressing the P362-million worth of “unauthorized, unnecessary, and dormant” bank accounts, as well as the deductions from teachers’ salaries for loan payments which have yet to be reflected with state insurer Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
During the budget deliberation of the Senate committee on finance, DepEd Undersecretary and spokesperson Michael Poa said the department is now closing down the accounts flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA).
“We just looked into this and we were told that these accounts were initially tagged unauthorized kasi hindi makita ng COA ‘yung (because the COA cannot find the) legal basis for the existence of these accounts,” he said.
“Since the audit, pinakitaan na sila ng finance team ng either MOA (memorandum of agreement) or deeds of donation or kung ano mang dokumento that there’s a reason para don sa mga accounts na ‘yon,” he added.
(Since the audit our finance team has shown them either a MOA or deeds of donation or whatever documents that there’s a reason for those accounts.)
This comes after state auditors flagged the P362-million funds in banks under the accounts of its central office and nine regional offices which have yet to be reverted back to the national treasury.
According to Poa, the DepEd is now in the process of closing down such accounts but it will first have to reopen the accounts and withdraw the funds prior to this. The funds will then be sent to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).
In the same hearing, Poa was questioned by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III regarding the reported deductions from the salaries of teachers for loans with the GSIS, but such payments have yet to be reflected.
According to Poa, the DepEd is now working closely with the GSIS to reconcile the databases of both agencies to ensure that payments are reflected with the state insurer.
“Usual na nangyayari ‘yan, that’s why ang ginagawa po namin ngayon, I came from the GSIS actually prior to joining DepEd, marami po talagang agencies na nahihirapan mag-remit whether it be siguro hindi nagma-match ‘yung sistema nung agency sa sistema ng GSIS,” he said.
(This is a usual occurrence, that’s why what we are doing, I came from the GSIS actually prior to joining DepEd, there are really a lot of agencies that have difficulties in remitting, maybe their systems do not match with the GSIS.)
Poa said the DepEd has since been having monthly meetings with the GSIS to reconcile the data between the two agencies, as he said that in the case of new hires, payments have already been made by the employee, but the individual is not yet in the GSIS database.
“We hope to reduce, if not eradicate, the amounts for reconciliation,” he said.
Under the Constitution, the government is mandated to allocate the highest budgetary priority to education. The National Expenditure Program (NEP) allocated P924.7 billion for the education sector, with the DepEd getting P758.6 billion.—LDF, GMA Integrated News
