THE province of Tarlac spent P70.25 million out of its Special Education Fund (SEF) in 2019 but auditors said slow procurement processes and delayed delivery and implementation meant public school students cannot benefit from these projects anymore.
Auditors questioned the procurement of P6.72 million worth of construction materials supposedly for rehabilitation and improvement of seven different public primary schools even if there was no budget provided for labor.
“The school heads averred that the construction materials were delivered at the time when the concerned schools had no funds to finance the labor component of the project, hence the materials laid idle in the school premises,” the audit team noted.
These projects were intended for the Bacuit Elementary School and San Manuel High School in Tarlac City; Tinang Elementary School, Ligaya Elementary School, and Concepcion East Central Elementary School all in Concepcion, Tarlac; Capas West Central Elementary School in Capas, Tarlac; and San Juan Elementary School in Ramos, Tarlac.
Likewise, construction of four covered sheds in Quimmardero Elementary School, Nambalan Elementary School, Mangolago Elementary School, and Bangar Elementary School with a total budget of P7.8 million was left incomplete and therefore unusable as less than half of the structure was finished by the time auditors conducted onsite inspections.
On the other hand, procurement of P5.1 million worth of “health kits” for supposed distribution to children based on a purchase request dated March 21, 2019 was only delivered on August 29, 2019. Auditors found the purchases still sitting untouched in stockrooms as of January 15, 2020 — four months after they were received by the provincial government.
Among these were 10,000 cakes of soap, 10,000 pairs of slippers, 10,000 toothbrushes and 40,000 sachets of anti-lice shampoo.
Also undistributed were 20,900 various high school textbooks worth P9.25 million delivered on November 12, 2019 and 5,000 units each of elementary school and high school armchairs with a total value of P12.45 million.
“The delayed delivery of the above heath kits, armchairs and books …defeats the timely delivery of services because it is already the last quarter of the school year,” the COA pointed out.
