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House defers TESDA budget after agency allegedly spends P4 billion in 13 days

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RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

MANILA— The House of Representatives on Friday deferred its consideration of the proposed P14.74 billion 2022 budget of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) after a lawmaker flagged the agency for &quot;miraculously&quot; spending P4 billion in just 13 days.Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo pointed this out during her interpellation of the agency’s budget sponsor, Zamboanga del Norte 1st District Rep. Romeo Jalosjos Jr.&quot;Maari ba natin malaman kung ano po ang unobligated balances as of, ano bang latest siguro as of September 10, 2021? &#x27;Yan ang pagkakaalam kong latest report. Ano po ang unobligated balances para sa scholarship programs?&quot; Quimbo asked.(May we know their unobligated balances as of September 10, 2021 for scholarship programs?) Jalosjos replied &quot;P4 billion po ang submitted (it was P4 billion) as of September 10, but there is another submission September 23, which is complete submission na is only P900 million na lang po.&quot;Unobligated funds refer to funds for projects that have not been bidded out.Quimbo was surprised by Jalosjos&#x27; answer. &quot;Nakakagulat naman po ang mga numerong narinig natin. Kung napansin niyo as I said ang sakit ng TESDA is napakabagal ng kanilang pag-utilize ng funds at makikita po &#x27;yan sa historical budget data ng TESDA.&quot;&quot;Pero sinasabi po ng ating distinguished sponsor, tila nagkaroon ng himala sa TESDA because in the last 13 days alone nakagastos ang TESDA ng P4 billion, tama po ba?&quot;(The numbers we just heard are shocking. If you noticed the number 1 diseas of TESDA is slow fund utlization, you&#x27;ll see that in its historical budget data.)Quimbo pointed out that TESDA usually takes 21 months to utilize its annual budget. She said it spent P9.52 billion over that period— from January 2020 up to September 2021.&quot;If we look at the 2019 budget ang total allotment was P13.69 billion, ang nagamit po sa buong (what was used for) 2019 is P10.54 billion. Nagkaroon ng budget extension at gumastos ng (There was a budget extension and they spent an) additional P3.54 billion for a total of P10.88 billion from January up to September, 21 months din po.&quot;She said this was why she was surprised that TESDA had boosted it budget utilization in 13 days. Jalosjos said that in TESDA&#x27;s 2021 budget, there was about P6 billion in unobligated funds as of June 30, 2021.Quimbo then noted that the obligated funds for the 2021 budget stood at P9.4 billion, which means there was an increase in obligated funds worth P3.4 billion from June 30 to September 10, 2021, which Jalosjos confirmed.&quot;Para tilang naghahabol ang TESDA, from June 30 to September 10 nakapag-increase sila ng P3.4 billion and in the last 13 days another P4 billion.&quot; Quimbo said.(It&#x27;s like they were catching up, from June 30 to September 10, theyi increased to P3.4 billion and in the last 13 days, another P4 billion.) Jalosjos’ explanation on behalf of the agency is that the discrepancy exists because it takes time for the finance offices of TESDA to catch up with TESDA management’s use of funds.&quot;It will take time for finance to catch up to the management dispersion. &#x27;Yun po difference na sinasabi (That&#x27;s the difference), P4 billion from Sept 10.&quot;&quot;Yes it looks like a miracle happened, but the explanation of the good office of TESDA is the September 10 submisison is based on actual finance, but actual utilization of management on the department of management is actually higher than that submitted on September 23.&quot;Jalosjos also explained why it took TESDA nearly two years to spend its 2019 budget. &quot;To answer the query on the 21 months utilization of the past years, 2019 as we may recall, the budget was passed late. That’s why the utilization was also slow in 2019 also. And 2020, we faced the start of the COVID restrictions so the schools that should download the amount cannot operate fully.”Jalosjos also attributed the low budget utilization to changes in TESDA leadership.Quimbo said she still wants TESDA to fully explain what happened.&quot;Hintayin na lang po natin siguro ang mga submissions na prinomise naman po ng TESDA, baka pwede na po natin hintayin ang mahahalagang submissions na &#x27;yan before we can proceed,&quot; she said, then moved to suspend proceedings.(Let&#x27;s wait for the submissions that TESDA promised before we can proceed.)The floor leader on duty, Pampanga 4th District Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc, joined the motion for the majority.The presiding officer, Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, approved the motion.Earlier in the hearing, Quimbo also noted how TESDA’s annual budget continued to rise despite its low utilization of funds.It was at P7.5 billion in 2016, doubled to P14.5 billion in 2019, and in 2021 reached P17 billion.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/21/21/house-oks-tesda-program-for-ex-drug-dependents">House OKs TESDA program for ex-drug dependents</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/17/21/house-to-start-plenary-debates-on-2022-budget">House to start plenary debates on 2022 budget next week</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/17/21/govt-to-seek-biggest-ever-national-budget-for-2022">P5.024-trillion national budget sought for 2022: Palace</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1734677" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The House of Representatives deferred its consideration of TESDA's proposed budget after a lawmaker flagged the agency for 'mircaulously' spending P4 billion in just 13 days.

House defers TESDA budget after agency allegedly spends P4 billion in 13 days

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House defers TESDA budget after agency allegedly spends P4 billion in 13 days

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 24, 2021 05:47 PM PHT

Read More:

TESDA

technical education and skills development authority

budget

2022 budget

General Approrpiations Act

GAA

National Expenditure Program

NEP

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