Education Secretary Leonor Briones. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has received a satisfactory mark from the Commission on Audit (COA) as the department satisfactorily complied with accounting standards for 2020, which was significantly better compared to the previous year, Education Secretary Leonor Briones announced on Wednesday.
“Based on this year’s audit report, the Department has delivered an increase in the implementation of the compliance report through the substantial decrease in the misstatements noted by the Commission,” Briones said in a statement.
“Being the largest bureaucracy in the country, we are eager to sustain our momentum of upholding the principles of transparency and good governance for the benefit of our Filipino learners,” Briones added.
For her part, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said that some misstatements cited by COA in the calendar year 2020 Consolidated Annual Audit Report were identified as recording errors, which are now being rectified by the agency after COA’s recommendation.
“DepEd’s budget for 2020 was intended for traditional face-to-face instruction, and adjustments had to be made, and funds quickly realigned,” Sevilla noted.
Sevilla also said that the Bayanihan 1 Act fund is currently at a 93 percent utilization rate after Congress extended its validity.
DepEd recently distributed laptops and sim cards with connectivity load to personnel as part of the Bayanihan 2 implementation.