The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) said the 160 million fund flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) was spent for various scholarship and livelihood programs for former members of the communist terrorist groups who decided to return to the government’s fold, residents in various geographically isolated and disadvantaged communities including Indigenous Peoples in far-flung areas of the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 17, TESDA Secretary Isidro Lapeña said the fund in question was used "in order for them to live a normal life again."
"For the information of the public, TESDA chairs the Poverty Reduction, Livelihood, and Employment Cluster (PRLEC) as well as the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC-12). That is the reason why TESDA is actively involved in the various programs of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)," he said.
The TESDA chief then provided this brief breakdown.
"As far as I know, out of the total P160,083,401.61, the amount of P147,383,401.61 were releases to the Regional Offices. These funds were sourced out from the TESDA Centrally Managed Funds, specifically from TESDA scholarship funds as reflected in TESDA’s budget FY 2020 GAA," Lapeña said.
"On the other hand, the amount of P12.7 million balance from the P160 million were taken from the P45.9 million budget for the implementation of EO 70 allocated by DBM which are intended for the operating expenses for 17 regions," he added.
"The P6 million fund augmentation for Regional Office12 is part of the P12.7 million budget allocation to some regions. The said amount per COA report pertains to the budget allocation," said Lapeña.
He said they have existing protocols to ensure proper and lawful disbursement of funds and has submitted all documents to COA to support their disbursements.
"Nevertheless, we are currently coordinating with COA in order to resolve this issue,"said Lapeña.