STATE auditors have warned officials of the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA)-Central Office that they could face a criminal probe for technical malversation over the “highly questionable” transfer of P160.083 million to its regional offices.
The funds, supposedly earmarked for the implementation of Executive order No. 70 that created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), were downloaded by TESDA-CO last year.
Based on a breakdown provided in the 2020 TESDA audit released last August 16, TESDA Region 11 (Davao Region) got the lion’s share of the money with P41.95 million.
A distant second was TESDA Region 12 (Soccsksargen), which received P23.725 million.
The other regions that received portions of the fund were Caraga (P13.844 million); Region 5 (Bicol), P12.79 million; Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), P12.33 million; Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), P9.7 million; Region 8 (Eastern Visayas), P9.214 million; Region 3 (Central Luzon), P8.854 million; Region 6 (Western Visayas), P6.624 million; Region 4, P5.84 million; Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), P5.642 million; Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), P4.143 million; Region 1 (Ilocos), P3.221 million; and National Capital Region, P2.196 million.
Region 7 (Central Visayas) did not get a single centavo.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed EO No. 70 on December 4, 2018, designating the director general of TESDA as a member of the task force.
Section 9 of Duterte’s EO provides that initial funding for the implementation of the anti-insurgency program shall be charged against the existing appropriations of the member-agencies of the task force and such other sources that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) may identify but subject to existing laws, rules, and regulations.
However, since EO No. 70 and related activities were not among the identified programs and projects of TESDA under its 2020 budget, the Commission on Audit said the agency should have focused on its mandate “to provide accessible high quality and efficient technical education and skills development” for Filipinos and help produce skilled manpower.
Reacting to the audit observation, the TESDA management said P143.38 million of the funds transferred to its regional offices were taken out of the TESDA Scholarship Funds.
