Probe DepEd for P22.

6-M unnecessary expenditure solon

A lawmaker wants the Department of Education (DepEd) to be investigated for
spending in 2012 some P22! million to build hand"washing facilities in schools that
lacked water suppl#
$n %ouse &esolution '(!) *ue+on ,it# &ep -inston ,astelo said the %ouse
,ommittee on .asic Education and ,ulture and the %ouse ,ommittee on /ood
/overnment and Public Accountabilit# should probe the DepEd for what the ,ommission
on Audit (,0A) described as unnecessar# e1penditure
2he ,0A defined unnecessar# e1penditures as those 3incurrence of e1penditure not
dictated b# the demand of good government)4 ,astelo said
,iting the ,0A report released on the (
rd
week of 5anuar# 2016) ,astelo said the
DepEd spent P22)!76)889(( to build hand"washing facilities in schools in :isamis
0riental) .iliran) ;avotas and :alabon two #ears ago
.ut inspections b# ,0A representatives revealed most of the built hand"washing
facilities were not functional) not full# utili+ed and unnecessar# as there were no available
water resources in the targeted schools) according to ,astelo
3$n :isamis 0riental) each hand washing pro<ect in 28 schools cost around P68)000
to P80)000 but onl# four or 1! percent are functional and the remaining 76 percent were
found useless because of lack of water suppl#) absence of electrical connection) destro#ed
faucets and pipes) destro#ed hand washing counters and dirt# facilit# and surroundings)4
,astelo said
3=tate auditors had the same observation for the facilities in ;avotas) :alabon and
.iliran) with lack of water suppl# as the primar# problem)4 ,astelo added
*uoting the state auditors) ,astelo said 3it seemed that concerned officials did not
consider the availabilit# of water resources in the targeted schools and sanitation of the
facilities pursuant to the above"cited DepEd order to ensure the sustainabilit# of these
facilities4
3%ad concerned officials e1ercised due diligence) schools with enough toilets and
with water suppl# problem should not have been selected as beneficiaries and the funds
could have been allocated to other pro<ects)4 ,astelo further >uoted the state auditors as
sa#ing ((0) mrs
NR # 3506
JUNE 23, 2014