MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) assured lawmakers on Wednesday that it had been working to return P1.7 billion in unused scholarship funds to the national treasury.
The Commission on Audit (COA) earlier flagged the Science Education Institute (SEI) of the DOST for the unused scholarship funds that were not remitted to the state coffers.
The commission had ordered SEI to return the funds.
SEI Deputy Director Albert Mariño gave an update on the funds during the budget hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations.
P700 million of the amount had already been reverted to the treasury.
“The P700 million has been reverted and P900 million is for reversion today. And ‘P100 million is for processing today,” Mariño said, speaking partly in Filipino, during the budget hearing of the committee.
Mariño explained that the P1.7 billion unused funds had been “accumulated” since 2015. He said the funds were not used because the scholarship programs of intended beneficiaries were deferred or terminated.
COA stated in its 2020 audit report that this was the amount remaining after the partial remittance of the SEI’s unspent balance.