MANILA—The Department of Education (DepEd) said Monday it is strengthening its financial management system to avoid getting flagged by state auditors.

"As early as March 2019, the department has already been working with the Commission on Audit (COA) and submitted its responses to the Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) on the alleged delay in construction of classrooms and alleged undistributed textbooks, among others," the agency said in a statement.

"The Department’s exit conferences and audit engagements with the Commission have been very positive and reassuring. As such, the Department has instituted new polices and is in the process of updating, simplifying, and codifying its internal rules as part of its financial reform efforts," DepEd added.

State auditors said some P113.708 million worth of learning materials procured as buffer stock from 2014 to 2017 were "minimally distributed in the last 4 years" and "an alarming number" idle in 5 warehouses.

The COA also called attention to P316.62 million spent on DepEd trainings in "lavish resorts and tourist spot locations" as "extravagant."

In its statement, DepEd also welcomed the congressional inquiry over the alleged undistributed learning materials and other issues cited in the COA report.

"DepEd assures the public and its stakeholders that it had already addressed COA's observations, and that it is determined to continuously improve its systems and processes," the agency said.