Allowances of 2,800 faculty scholars released: CHED

Seal of the Commission on Higher Education (Philippines) (Photo By Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) – Commission on Higher Education, Public Domain)

MANILA — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced on Tuesday it has released the allowances of 2,828 faculty scholars, after facing challenges in the release of allowances under the K to 12 program.

This announcement came a day after CHED chair Patricia Licuanan resigned from her post.

“Following the ongoing efforts since November 2017 during which the Commission resumed processing of allowances after the COA Notice of Suspensions, CHED has now completed the release of allowances to 2,828 eligible scholars, of which 2,247 is for full release, and 581 is for partial release,” it said in a statement Tuesday.

It added that due to accounting and auditing rules, it can only release partial allowances to scholars with remaining deficiencies in terms of submission.

The remaining 1,268 scholars who have been unable to submit valid enrollment forms, the release remain on hold, according to CHED.

“Release of allowances under the Program are triggered by the complete submission of valid enrollment forms and authenticated copies of grades for the previous semester,” the Commission reiterated.

Licuanan earlier denounced corruption allegations against her, and said the K to 12 transition program has been implemented with the highest level of stewardship, and that every peso is accounted for.

Licuanan also cited that there have been challenges in the release of living allowances, but noted that these were due to the following reasons: discrepancies and deficiencies in submitted documents; volume of documents that required thorough vetting; the need to abide by the government accounting and auditing rules.

On January 11, Licuanan admitted that 4,096 faculty scholars were experiencing delays in the release of living allowances.

CHED said it is continuously processing the full release of allowances to scholars who are able to submit pending documents as they come, and also resolves issues on documentary submissions, within the bounds of government accounting and auditing rules, to facilitate releases for remaining scholars at the soonest possible time.

Meanwhile, scholars are advised to check their status online or through the CHED regional offices.