The Commission on Audit (COA) has raised concerns over the Department of Education’s (DepEd) failure to resolve significant financial discrepancies, amounting to P12.3 billion in disallowances, suspensions, and charges by the end of 2023. This marks the last full year under Vice President Sara Duterte’s leadership as the department’s secretary.
According to COA’s 2023 annual audit report, the unsettled amount increased from P11.4 billion at the end of 2022, indicating an additional P903 million in unresolved audit issues. These discrepancies are linked to multiple transactions and fund disbursements by DepEd that were flagged for non-compliance with existing regulations.
The audit report detailed that the unsettled notices include P10.1 billion in Notices of Suspension (NSs), P2.2 billion in Notices of Disallowance (NDs), and P7.4 million in Notices of Charge (NCs). The COA noted that “non-compliance with existing laws, rules, and regulations” resulted in these unresolved amounts.
The COA emphasized that DepEd’s Central Office was responsible for the majority of the unsettled amounts, totaling P1.2 billion in disallowed transactions, with the remaining issues spread across 15 regional offices.
Additionally, COA flagged DepEd for not properly liquidating cash advances, which stood at P7 billion by the end of 2023. The audit highlighted lapses such as the grant of additional cash advances despite pending liquidation of previous ones and payments made without proper authority or documentation.
DepEd’s management has pledged to address the audit findings and settle the outstanding amounts. However, COA also pointed out that over P15.5 billion in funds allocated for various educational programs, such as classroom construction and the procurement of learning tools, remained unutilized, largely due to delays in procurement and project implementation.