Unremitted DepEd funds flagged as SC studies pleas vs VP Duterte’s expenses

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Department of Education (DepEd) for failing to remit billions of pesos in employee deductions as the Supreme Court sifted through issues raised in three petitions against the secret funds of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.

According to its 2022 audit report, the unremitted funds consisted of P4.47 billion in premium contributions and loan amortizations that had already been deducted from the salaries of DepEd employees.

For the same year, the COA also flagged the Office of the Vice President for reporting that Duterte was disbursed at least P125 million over 11 days as part of “confidential and intelligence funds.”

At least three separate petitions for certiorari and mandamus were lodged before the Supreme Court questioning the disbursement of the P125 million.

On Wednesday, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said an associate justice was tasked to study the issues raised in the three petitions and the high court was awaiting the government’s reply to the three lawsuits.

In the case of the unremitted DepEd funds, the COA said at least the premium contributions and loan amortizations mostly involved the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), exposing the employees to penalties and depriving them of loan privileges.

“It is vital for agencies to withhold and remit all monthly premium contributions within the prescribed period in order for members to enjoy and access all privileges and benefits that are due to them,” the auditors said in its audit observations on DepEd.

Besides the GSIS contributions, auditors also flagged the nonremittance of premium contributions and loan amortizations to the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF, or the Pag-Ibig Fund) amounting to P193.7 million.

Possible penalties

It also found that the mandatory deductions as contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) worth P307 million were also not remitted by DepEd, which also exposed them to risks of possible penalties and surcharges.

As for taxes, the COA said there were “unremitted taxes” worth P572.6 million due to “weaknesses in the controls.”

In total, DepEd failed to remit more than P5 billion worth of taxes and contributions deducted from the salaries of its personnel that are yet to be remitted to the concerned agencies and services.

The COA recommended that DepEd immediately remit all contributions for HDMF and PhilHealth deducted from the salaries of teachers and DepEd personnel to avoid any penalties, which auditors said DepEd agreed to do.