Palace: Briones won’t allow irregularities in DepEd amid textbook fiasco

MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Leonor Briones will not allow any irregularity in the Department of Education (DepEd) as the agency faces alleged anomalies over the so-called textbook fiasco.

The Commission on Audit (COA) said P254.253 million worth of learning materials for Grade 3 pupils were riddled with errors despite the agency’s three-step review process.

READ: COA report: P254M went to ‘error-filled’ DepEd books

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo, however, vouched for Briones’ competence.

“As far as I know, the secretary of education is a very competent intelligent educator,” Panelo told reporters in Malacañang.

“She is someone who will never allow any irregularity or any anomaly inside her department,” he added.

Public school teachers have asked lawmakers to immediately conduct a congressional probe into the textbook blunder.

In its report, COA said: “The existence of error-filled learning materials is an indication that the meticulous checking, review and evaluation processes of the manuscripts were not undertaken by the concerned bureaus before [their] mass production.”

DepEd said it had already complied with COA’s request that it submit an explanation for each of its specific findings.

READ: Teachers seek congressional probe of textbook fiasco

The department added that Briones had already instructed concerned teams to adhere to strict controls to prevent the same blunders from recurring. /kga