The Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) attention was called on the more than P647 million in unliquidated funds under its Merit Scholarship Program.

The Commission on Audit’s (CoA) 2024 report on the agency stated that the fund was transferred to various Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in CHEd offices in Regions IV and XII.

The unliquidated disbursements to private HEIs and state and local universities covered academic years 2019-2020 to 2023-2024.

Funds allocated to Region IV-B and transferred to various HEIs under CHEd Scholarship Programs (CSPs) amounting to P12,050,000 for Calendar Year 2023 and prior years remained unliquidated until the end of 2024.

“An inquiry with the accounting unit disclosed that indeed there were funds transferred under CHEd scholarship programs that were not liquidated as of year-end. However, the accounting unit asserted that they had constantly reminded the recipients concerned of their responsibility to submit liquidation or fund utilization reports,” the CoA said.

“Management commented that they will send demand letters to the institutions concerned for the immediate liquidation of outstanding fund transfers. Moreover, the CHEd UniFAST Regional Coordinators are also monitoring and assisting the HEIs concerned in preparing and submitting their liquidation reports,” the auditing body added.

In Region XII, P635,357,500 was unliquidated as of 30 September, which was contrary to CHEd Memorandum 8, series of 2019, which covered the agency’s policies and guidelines for its scholarship programs, and the handbook on how schools handle reports and scholarship funds.

CoA stated that the management of Region XII explained that due to a lack of manpower and volume of transactions, the office prioritized releasing scholarships over monitoring liquidations.

“Management explained that due to the lack of manpower and the volume of transactions, they prioritized the release of scholarship grants over monitoring liquidations, considering the urgent need of student grantees for their stipends,” CoA stated in its report.

CHEd’s management then assured that they are making earnest efforts to resolve the unliquidated transfers and promote compliance with liquidation requirements. CoA highlighted that the non-liquidation and non-submission of reports exposed funds to risk, especially those that had been outstanding for an extended period.

Reports lacking

“The non-liquidation and non-submission of reports and supporting documents by the recipient institutions not only prevents the determination of the propriety of payments to the student-grantees and timely accounting/recording thereof, but also exposes the said funds to risk of misuse, especially those that remained outstanding for a significant period,” CoA emphasized in its report.

The auditing body recommended, and management agreed, that CHEd Region IV-B will issue demand letters to the CPS recipients concerned immediately to liquidate the fund release, with supporting documents, and refund any unreleased subsidy.

Meanwhile, CHEd Region XII will require HEIs to submit the immediate liquidation report, along with original copies of the documents, as the basis for evaluation, authenticity, and proprietary claims.

The management also agreed to strengthen the monitoring mechanism of the regional coordinators of the fund to ensure strict oversight of the liquidation of funds transferred to participating HEIs and to ensure proper liquidation within the prescribed period.

Furthermore, CHEd Region XII agreed to withhold any subsequent fund releases pending submission of the required liquidation reports, as warranted.