House to probe DepEd dues
THE HOUSE of Representatives will probe the Department of Education (DepEd) after it failed to remit a total of P5.55 billion in premium contributions and loan amortizations deducted from salaries of teachers and non-teaching personnel, Roman T. Romulo, who heads the House basic education and culture panel, told BusinessWorld in a Viber Message.
Mr. Romulo said the House committee will invite to a hearing the involved agencies including DepEd, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), and Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF, commonly known as the Pag-IBIG Fund) to clarify the issues on unremitted amounts.
“We will target the 2nd work week of January 2024 to give time to send invitations to the concerned agencies,” he said when asked when hearings will start.
Mr. Romulo said the committee will take action or propose solutions based on the explanations and clarifications to be obtained from its probe.
In its 2022 annual report, the Commission on Audit (CoA) flagged the education department for failing to remit taxes, insurance contributions, and loan payments totaling P5.55 billion, P4.47 billion of which were Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) contributions. Teachers and other DepEd staff might face penalties, reduced benefits, and unwarranted interests, said CoA.
In a statement last week, DepEd said it is “aggressively looking into various ways to address the subject of unremitted premium and contributions,” citing that the issue has been recurring due to “system incompatibility and timing differences”
The department said CoA is “well-aware of the steps being taken to resolve this matter, which is why in the same Consolidated Annual Audit Report, CoA rendered an Unqualified/Unmodified Opinion in favor of DepEd — a first in the Department’s history.”
In a video message sent on Viber, Teachers’ Dignity Coalition national chairperson Benjo Basas said his group is looking forward to the investigations of the House committee, emphasizing that teachers might not get the benefits that were deducted from their salaries.
“We are looking forward to the plan of the House to investigate and hold accountable those who should be accountable,” he said in Filipino. “This problem greatly affects our status as government employees because we are unable to obtain the benefits that should be rightfully allocated to us.”
Mr. Basas said the non-remittance issue worries teachers whose salaries are being deducted religiously and timely for premium contributions and amortization loans. “Unfortunately, those payments to agencies are not being remitted.” — Jomel R. Paguian
