THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and 89 state universities and colleges (SUCs) failed to implement its P3 billion Smart Campus Development Program before the appropriation expired under the Bayanihan to Recover as One (Bayanihan 2) on June 30, 2021.
Although already transferred by the CHED to the 89 SUCs, the audit team said the unspent balance of P1.958 billion under the program should have been transmitted back to the National Treasury as required under RA No. 11519 and National Budget Circular No. 585.
The team added that Resolution No. 690-2021 issued by the CHED en Banc approving the fund transfer to the SUCs with no conditions is a violation of the rules on reversion of unused program funds.
The P3 billion funding for the program was released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the CHED on December 10, 2020. The allocation breakdown provided that P2 billion was intended as “financial assistance to SUCs for the acquisition of ICT (information and communications technology) infrastructure and learning management system” while the remaining P1 billion was to fund the procurement of 20,000 laptops for faculty members of SUCs.
The appropriation had an original validity ending until December 29, 2020 only, but this was extended to June 30, 2021.
Despite the additional six months, the Commission on Audit noted that the CHED still failed to implement the program that was supposed to create 50 “smart campuses” in Luzon, 24 in Visayas, and 15 in Mindanao.
Auditors said the CHED Central Office reviewed 238 proposals but shortlisted only 89 on the recommendation of its Technical Working Group (TWG) and technical experts.
However, funding per campus was only approved between May 26 and June 7, 2021 followed by the execution of 89 memoranda of agreement with the SUCs.
“On the basis of the MOAs, the amount of P1,958,430,405.77 was subsequently transferred by CHED to 89 SUCs on June 22, 23 and 28, 2021,” the audit team noted.
But since the last day of validity of the appropriation under Bayanihan 2 expired on June 30, 2021 the SUCs only had a limited period to proceed with their procurement activities and disburse the funds.
“Given that the procurement by SUCs will be governed by RA No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act)… it would be unrealistic, if not impossible, for them to complete the project considering that the procurement process alone takes time,” the COA pointed out.
It recommended that the CHED require all 89 SUCs to return the money to the National Treasury and that the agency instead request Congress and the DBM for a new appropriation to fund the smart campus program.
