Syjuco denies irregularity in Tesda fund transfer

No funds from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) were irregularly transferred to nongovernment organizations providing school supplies to students in the provinces, according to Iloilo Representative Augusto Syjuco.

Syjuco, the former chief of Tesda, was reacting to the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) which had questioned the transfer of P58 million in funds from the Tesda central office and Region VI office to the Tagipusuon Cooperative in 2005 and 2008.

The funds were allegedly used for the “Education for All” program under which elementary and high school students were to be given uniforms, bags, notebooks and other school supplies and training materials. The COA had said that the program was not part of Tesda’s mandate.

In a letter to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Syjuco explained that the P38.12 million and P20 million transferred to the cooperative had come from the priority development assistance fund or pork barrel of the then representative of Iloilo’s second district.

He said the funds were given in trust to Tesda since it was one of only three specifically qualified agencies through which the money could be channeled. Aside from Tesda, the other authorized channels were the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Education.

“No Tesda fund was ever used for the Education for All program of the district for the past 14 years since its inception up to now that it has served about 700,000 student-recipients, with such funds all being congressional PDAF funds,” Syjuco said in the letter.

He also said legislators did not handle their PDAF directly, and were only tasked to identify the projects that would be supported by the funds.