Scholarship fund all accounted for – CHEd
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) yesterday clarified that the reportedly idle R1.2-billion fund for poor students has already been "fully obligated" before the end of last year.
CHEd assured that the supposedly unspent funds have been fully settled and that deserving and qualified students will definitely receive the financial assistance package.
"In fact by December 31, 2015, the remaining R1.2- billion 2014 budget which had a validity of two years, had been fully obligated with an assurance that the beneficiaries will be paid," CHED Chairperson Patricia B. Licuanan said.
The clarification came amid a congressional committee probe following the Commission on Audit (COA) findings on CHED's failure to disburse the scholarship fund.
COA's report also enumerated CHED’s courses of action based on the agreements in the Commission’s exit conference with COA in July 2015.
CHED stated that the time of the exit conference, documentation for the obligation of funds from its regional offices”still needed updating, but to date, these reports have already been completed." Manpower, documentary woes
"Fully obligated na yung unspent funds while in some regions I believe processing of checks pa. Depende sa CHED regional office , meron kasing kulang talaga sa staff, meron namang mga cases kulang din ang documentary requirements ng students kaya nagtatagal (The unspent funds are already fully obligated while in some regions I believe the checks are still being processed. It depends on the CHED regional office, some are undermanned, there are also cases wherein documentary requirements are incomplete, which causes the delays)," CHED public information officer Abigail Lesaca said in a text message.
Ballooning beneficiaries In 2013, the Supreme Court declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) unconstitutional. In response, lawmakers realigned their PDAF allocations to the calamity fund and six agencies, including CHED for scholarship assistance to students.
As a consequence, CHED’s Student Financial Assistance Programs (StuFAPs) composed of scholarships, grants-in-aid and loans totaling 58,155 slots in the amount of R997 million in AY 2013-2014, ballooned nearly seven times to 391,817 slots in AY 2014-2015 amounting to R4.87 billion, testing the carrying capacity of the agency, according to Licuanan.
Licuanan said the commission welcomes any possible inquiry on the matter as an opportunity to set the record straight.
Militants unimpressed Meanwhile, the League of Filipino Students will launch more protests to demand accountability from CHED and the Aquino regime.
"We cannot allow them to go scot-free. While students and their parents suffer from the yearly unabated tuition and other school fees increases, the CHED officials seem to enjoy raking profit out of people’s money,” said LFS National Chairperson Charisse Bañez.