MANILA, Philippines — The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) is ready to face the House probe sought on its alleged low budget utilization and slow implementation of its programs, an official of the agency said.
Tesda deputy director-general for partnerships and linkages Aniceto Bertiz III said they welcome the resolution calling for the investigation filed by at least 17 lawmakers, adding that the probe could serve as a venue for them to explain their side on the issue.
“Nakahanda naman ang Tesda kung anuman ang inquiries na itatanong ng Kongreso and I think that’s the same issue they asked two months or three months ago during the budget deliberations,” Bertiz said in an interview on Thursday.
(Tesda is ready to face whatever inquiries they have in Congress and I think that is the same issue they asked two months or three months ago during the budget deliberations.)
Tesda Deputy Director-General for Operations Lina Sarmiento echoed Bertiz’ sentiments, saying they are “confident” that they will be able to explain the issue before the lawmakers.
“We are very confident na maipaliwanag namin kasi nga hindi pa tapos ang 2019 funds implementation, hanggang December 31, 2020 pa ‘yun. At ‘yung sinubmit namin sa COA (Commission on Audit), ‘yun naman ay based sa implementation last year,” Sarmiento said.
(We are very confident that we will be able to explain it because the implementation of 2019 funds isn’t done yet. That’s until December 31, 2020. What we submitted to COA was based on our implementation last year.)
House Resolution No. 1394 cites COA’s 2019 annual report which noted Tesda’s “poor performance” in the implementation of its Special Employment Training Program (STEP).
The resolution states that the records show that in 2019, a total of 64,196 scholarship slots amounting to P1.1 billion were unutilized by Tesda.
Further, the COA report noted that only 5.64 percent of the 75,004 STEP graduates succeeded in getting employment which is lower than Tesda’s target of 65 percent, the resolution states.
“Despite the urgent need for our workers to acquire the necessary skills and training, it is projected that 173,068 scholarship slots amounting to P2.6 billion will be unutilized by Tesda in 2020,” the resolution states.