Senator Leila de Lima has asked her colleagues to also investigate the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) utilization of its funds, after state auditors flagged its transfer of over P160 million to the government's anti-insurgency programs.

De Lima filed Resolution No. 886 which calls for a Senate inquiry into the TESDA's disbursements, particularly on its allegedly unauthorized transfer of funds for programs of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

"It is necessary to investigate these issues and determine once and for all whether the transfer of funds is viable and what impact it will have on the utilization of public funds,” she said in the resolution.

The Commission on Audit (COA) earlier said that the transfers amounting to P160,083,401.61 were "highly questionable" for lack of authority and legal basis, as well as the absence of guidelines on how the funds will be utilized.

"Likewise exposing these funds to possible misuse or misappropriation," the COA said.

According to the TESDA, the funds were used for scholarship and livelihood programs for rebels who have returned to the government, as well as for residents in disadvantaged and far-flung areas.

De Lima, however, noted that the executive order that created the NTF-ELCAC did not grant agencies the discretion to distribute funds.

TESDA, she said, should provide the legal justification for its fund transfers "since it could serve as pretext for technical misappropriation of public funds, which punishable under the Revised Penal Code."

“Given that the TESDA appropriation for 2020 was intended for the implementation of the agency's programs/projects following its mandate, the funds should have been used accordingly," she pointed out, citing the lack of resources amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is investigating the reported deficiencies of the Department of Health (DOH) in spending its COVID-19 response funds, which the COA also flagged.