COA: Sanction SUCs over P793-M unliquidated funds

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has recommended to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) the imposition of sanctions on several state colleges and universities (SUCs) over their continued failure to liquidate a total of P793.250 million in assistance funds they received during the previous administration drawn from the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).

Based on the COA’s 2018 annual audit report on CHED, of the total P917.311 million in unliquidated DAP funds, which the audit team had flagged in previous audit reports, only 13.52 percent or P124.060 million had been settled as of the end of 2018, leaving a balance of P793.250 million.

“Despite the previous year’s audit recommendations, the CHED-Central Office (CHED-CO) still failed to compel the recipient SUCs to fully liquidate the DAP-transferred funds,” the 2018 audit report read.

“We recommended that the (CHED) management send demand letters to the defaulting SUCs requiring them of the immediate settlement of the transferred funds...and impose appropriate sanctions, in case of non-compliance,” it added.

The COA said the non-liquidation of transferred funds contravenes the Government Auditing Manual for National Government Agencies, which mandates implementing agencies to submit fund utilization reports within 10 days after the end of each month or after the end of the agreed period for the project.

Under CHED Memorandum Order 9, series of 2012, DAP funds shall be allocated to the SUCs in support of the Aquino administration’s “Reform Agenda for Public Higher Education.”

The amount came from the DAP funds which CHED-CO received from the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies.