₱168 M unutilized funds- reported by COA

By: Rhea Pascua

The Commission on Audit, on its annual update, reported that there is an estimated Php 168 M funds that is still unutilized by the university. According to the interviewed officials, it is to be utilized into the different academic developmental programs by the university. According to COA, the enhanced implementing guidelines for Expanded Grant-aid Program for Poverty Alleviation (ESGP-PA) and the Tulong Dunong Scholarship Program, both scholarship programs are offered by PUP, has an allotment of P45.63 M and P36.38 M reported unutilized fund for the year 2015, respectively. The chief of Scholarships and Financial Assistance Services (SFAS) Leilanie Teves assured that the programs are now on its highest peak of development since the implementation on 2014. “Masasabi kong happy na ako sa improvement,” she added. The ESGP-PA has stated that there are a total of 386 beneficiaries out of the 407 slots to be filled by the students of the university, in which of them are members of the Pantawid Pamilya Program (4Ps). The unfilled yet slots, according to Ms. Teves, are because of the students who have experienced personal matters and issues to cause them to drop out of school and the others lack the needed documents. Nevertheless, her goal is to not face the same kind of problem anymore. Because of the indefinite guidelines from the Office of the Legislators, the Dunong Tulong Program is still not fully implemented in the university but she assured that their following the proper procedures to inform the university of the said programs. Various projects for the year 2015 and 2016 has been accomplished reported by COA, such as the accreditation entitled to the university, Level I and II on August 20, 2016. However, many are still partially implementation even the unutilized amount of Php 75 M for the seven infrastructure projects within the year of 2016, but only Php 2.5 M has been used for the Gender and Development (GAD). The other projects that have been accomplished including the repair and rehabilitation of the buildings from the different PUP branches are implemented during the year 2017, one is the Phase I rehabilitation of CEA building which is now on its second phase.