“Mismanaged” Feeding Program: Group wants DepEd to answer

CEBU, Philippines — The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) wants the Department of Education (DepEd) under the administration of former secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte to be held responsible for “mismanaging” government resources and funds that led to the agency’s failure to deliver its P5.69-billion feeding program to public school students.

ACT said the lapses that led to the delivery of moldy, insect-infested nutribuns, rotting food items, unsanitary packaging and mislabeled manufacturing and expiry details for the feeding program was a disservice to students from poor and marginalized communities relying on the government for quality nutrition.

“This is also a betrayal of service and waste of public funds. This clearly shows how VP Sara prioritized perpetrating state attacks and serving as mouthpiece of NTF-ELCAC instead of giving due attention to education as agency head,” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said.

“ACT join(s) the call for an investigation into major lapses, including blacklisting of erring suppliers and holding the previous DepEd administration accountable for gross failure and negligence, as issues continue to emerge during Congress' budget deliberations,” he added.

Holding the previous administration is crucial Quetua said, as the instance had been the second time DepEd supposedly mismanaged and skimped on the funds

In 2022, COA found that out of 6.9 million target learners, only 5.3 million benefitted from the program. According to the 2022 audit report, DepEd failed to distribute P82 million worth of food and milk due to delayed implementation, and P60.9 million worth of contracts were marred by lapses in the procurement process of pasteurized milk and nutritious food products, and P23 million in payments to suppliers were delayed.

Meanwhile, the 2023 COA report showed DepEd schools in Aurora, Bulacan, Misamis Oriental, Iligan and Quezon City failed to deliver the agency’s feeding program to its students last year over lapses that led to the delivery of moldy, insect-infested nutribuns, rotting food items, unsanitary packaging and mislabeled manufacturing and expiry details.

COA also found that some schools had distributed more than the required quantity to students while other food items were not distributed as scheduled. State auditors also found some schools did not do feeding activities daily.

Aside from these, 21 division offices nationwide did not receive food products on time: Mandaluyong City, Pasig City, Ifugao, Baguio City, Benguet, La Union, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Camarines Sur, Zamboanga City, Bukidnon, Valencia City, Malaybalay, Tagum City, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Agusan del Norte, Butuan City, Cabadbaran City, Surigao City, and Surigao del Norte.

“(The Commission on Audit) reveal(ed) a stench of negligence, with expired, moldy, and insect-infested food items being delivered to schools at a time when malnutrition is gnawing at our most vulnerable learners, directly affecting their performance in schools,” Quetua said.

The Programme for International Student Assessment, in which the Philippines has been ranked among the bottom countries Philippines for two straight assessment years, highlighted the need to focus on the nutrition of students to help them maximize their abilities to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges.

COA’s issues with the DepEd when Duterte was still Secretary are now being resolved by the current administration, Assistant Secretary Dexter Galban said earlier.

He said the agency is consulting its regional offices and their respective auditing teams to finalize the action plan to resolve the issues raised by state auditors. The agency targets to submit these plans before October ends.

Earlier, COA flagged DepEd for its failure to settle its huge disallowances, suspensions and charges, which stood at P12.3 billion as of the end of 2023, Duterte’s last full year as Education Secretary. —/FPL (FREEMAN)