The hashtag #CHEDexposed trended on social media on Thursday, July 15, as netizens and representatives of various youth groups took online their sentiments on the alleged “unspent” funds of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
As of this writing, #CHEDexposed has 4,137 tweets.
Along with #NoStudentLeftBehind, youth leaders from various groups lambasted the CHED for the “unspent education funds” under the Bayanihan 2 based on a report from the Commission on Audit (COA).
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READ: Youth leaders from various groups lambasted the Commission on Higher Education for the unspent education funds under the Bayanihan 2, a report from the Commission on Audit showed.#CHEDexposed #NoStudentLeftBehind pic.twitter.com/gmDx1J5QNh
— CEGP (@CEGPhils) July 14, 2021
On July 14, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) held a social media rally demanding CHED to explain the alleged “underutilized” education funds. “In such trying times, Filipino students deserve to know the truth,” the group said.
Citing a COA report, CEGP slammed CHED for spending “only half of its funds allocated under the Bayanihan 2 for online learning” wherein “out of the total amount, only about P1.33 billion was used” by the commission.
In a separate Facebook also posted on Wednesday, CEGP strongly condemned the “waste” of the said budget for the students. The group also criticized CHED Chairman Popoy De Vera for “not listening to the grievances of the students” especially amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
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Netizens also took to Twitter their thoughts on the issue.
I, Erika, of UPMin SOMSC, demand that @PhCHED explain the 2 billion-peso unspent education funds under Bayanihan 2.
As long as the pleas of students and sectors in education remain unheard of, we will not cease to assert our basic rights. #CHEDexposed #NoStudentLeftBehind
— Heatheeeeer (@meighhhh) July 15, 2021
Nakalulungkot. Nakakawalang-ganang mag-apply for the CHED scholarship. Ano na CHED? Hanggang kailan kayo magiging ganito? #CHEDexposed
— ROLANDjr (@SB19junior) July 15, 2021
same feeling. I graduated last 2019, and until now yung grant namin nung 4th year wala pa din kaming naririnig . Super ngarag kami pag pasa and asikaso ng needed documents noon tapos ayun di na ata nila naalala hanggang ngayon #CHEDexposed https://t.co/3tBSVrQ7SX
— C H A R I S H (@charishaa05) July 14, 2021
In a statement issued by CHED on July 14, De Vera maintained that the commission has already utilized 99 percent of its Bayanihan 2 funds by June 30, 2021.
CHED also pointed out that some media reports, and for that matter the COA Report, are “inaccurate, misleading and fail to take into account the passage” of RA 11519 on Dec. 29, 2020 which extended the use of the Bayanihan 2 funds June 30, 2021.
“The media and COA Report also fail to consider the chronological release of funds, requirements for fund release, and implementation of CHED activities after the passage of the Bayanihan 2 law,” De Vera said.
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https://mb.com.ph/2021/07/14/misleading-ched-calls-out-coa-media-over-inaccurate-reports-on-low-utilization-rate/
De Vera maintained that the RA 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act enacted in September 2020 appropriated P300 million for education subsidy to eligible students and P3 billion for grants to State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) for their Smart Campus Development projects.
CHED named the education subsidy as Bayanihan 2 for Higher Education Tulong Program (B2HELP) which provided qualified students P5,000 each to be “credited to their respective outstanding balances or accounts if they were enrolled in private higher education institutions (HEIs) or to be used for their online learning expenses if studying in public HEIs.”
De Vera said that CHED also requested the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) and Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) for the P300 million from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in November 2020.
“The DBM released the fund to CHED on 1 December 2020 and the funds were obligated by 31 December 2020,” De Vera explained. “As of 30 June 2021, 60,782 students have benefitted from this program. CHED disbursed PhP297,540,319.39 of the B2HELP funds resulting in a 99 percent utilization rate,” he added.