MANILA – The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Department of Education (DepEd) for delays in construction of school facilities in far-flung areas, which resulted in not attaining the objective of its Last Mile Schools Program (LMSP). 

In its 2023 annual audit report, state auditors found that 76 out of 98 facilities worth P1.4 billion were "still not completed during the year despite payment of mobilization fees."

COA said the LMSP construction projects procured by the central office were not yet finished despite being funded from DepEd's budget in 2021.

"It is very alarming that only 22 out of 98 facilities, transcending only to 22.45 percentage of completion, was achieved by DepEd-Central Office, despite rendering payments to contractors for mobilization fees totaling P211,232,835.61 almost two years ago," the audit team wrote.

The LMSP coverage under the DepEd's 2021 budget included contractors of four lots with a total of 98 sites and 340 classrooms.

The program, which started in 2019, sought to address gaps in resources and facilities of schools in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

It aimed to transform makeshift classrooms into standard ones, install solar panels in areas with no electricity, process school site ownership and deploy teachers to provide sustainable education.

The LMSP projects in question were supposed to be completed within 150 calendar days from the receipt of notice to proceed, but not later than May 31, 2022.

"Verification pertaining to the status of implementation of construction of classrooms centrally procured by CO revealed that majority of the projects are still not completed in the current year… What is concerning, is that said projects were still not completed as at yearend and have already incurred as much as 555 days," it said.

"The delays of 555 days as of December 31, 2023, is of paramount concern, as the learners from far-flung communities were denied access to quality education and did not benefit from the project's target that no learner is left behind," COA added.

As of December 31, 2023, Lots 1 and 2 were delayed by 555 days, Lot 3 delayed by 547 days and Lot 4 delayed by 532 days. These projects were expected to be completed by June 2022 and July 2022, respectively.

COA also found projects under Lot 4 worth P327.87 million were on-hold or already discontinued as DepEd faced difficulties in contacting/getting updates from the contractor.

These include schools with abandoned or unattended projects in Regions 9, 12 and 13 namely Balawan Elementary School, Nicomedes I. Sunio Elementary School, Digon National High School, Datagan Elementary School and Salvacion Indigenous Community Elementary School.

DepEd explained the program faced delays during the pre-construction stage, specifically restrictions due to COVID-19.

It also cited unforeseen circumstances like unfavorable weather conditions and interventions by the local community or government unit that delayed the construction stage.

"The inefficient planning, supervision and monitoring conducted by the Department in implementing the projects was apparent based on the reasons presented above. Had the Management dedicated a detailed planning of program implementation, considering among others, contingency plans to address unforeseen events that may impact timelines, the delays and other concerns would have been addressed accordingly," COA said.

State auditors said these reasons only apply to some projects under the program.

"The issues/concerns provided by the Department on why the delays are encountered during construction period affects only a fraction of the total projects (by facility) being implemented. Thus, delays are generally caused by the inaction of the Department in taking remedial measures in a timely manner to ensure that projects are carried out in accordance to targeted objectives," COA wrote.

"Despite the delays encountered as previously mentioned, the Department did not avail early on, of any of the legal remedies in case of breach of contract," it further stated.

COA recommended DepEd submit a catch-up action plan detailing the immediate courses of action it has to undertake to prevent further delays in the LMSP implementation; as well as provide a definite timeline on the target date of completion for the LMSP CY 2021 project.

The audit team also told DepEd to better plan future similar projects and speed up assessment on the justification of contractors on extension of the contract.

DepEd likewise said the decision and review process on requests for contract time extension slowed down due to the multiple changes in the agency within two years.

"Despite revised target completion dates through issuance of documents such as request for extension of contract period, suspension orders and resumption orders, satisfactory completion of the aforementioned projects were still delayed thus, depriving the intended beneficiaries, more specifically the students of the timely use of the buildings/facilities," the COA said.

State auditors recommended DepEd conduct detailed planning, rigid monitoring and supervision during project implementation and adhere to rules under the government procurement law.

DepEd said it cannot "rashly" terminate contracts without exhausting all available options, as this may be more detrimental to learners who would be deprived of classrooms.

It stated Paragraph 8 of the contract that allows DepEd to terminate the contract "once the cumulative amount liquidated damages reaches ten percent (10%) of the Contract Price."

The contractors of the projects in question were allowed to continue but were told of the running amount of liquidated damages. However, DepEd later said it is already pursuing contract termination for Lots 1, 2 and 4.

In its rejoinder, the audit team said the status of completion of the projects showed "not much improvement" as 65 out of 98 facilities were still in the 0 to 50% range of completion as of December 31,2023 or 153 days after the previous status.

"Given the circumstances, one can easily infer that the construction projects were undergoing difficulties as targets are being achieved poorly, thus remedial actions should have been instituted early on," it said.

"If the contracts are to be terminated, one can say that such was not made rashly but rather belatedly. With the project's intended completion date of May 31, 2022, it is safe to say that termination of contracts is fitting and should have long been," the audit team added.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara earlier said the agency is still prioritizing the construction of new school buildings, new classrooms and provide digital services for both teachers and students.

He added that DepEd plans to have more public-private partnerships to help resolve the "perennial problem of classroom backlogs."