The Commission on Audit said the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) does not have to pay the P97.2 million claim of the Jesus Is Lord Colleges Foundation Inc. (JILCFI) representing allegedly unpaid Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) for two academic years.
The COA en banc denied JILCFI’s petition for a money claim, saying there was no basis for the payment under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or Republic Act 10931 because not all of its students were automatically qualified for the TES.
“The petition for money claim is not meritorious. The documents submitted by the petitioner, especially the supposed master list of qualified students were not validated by the UniFAST, as confirmed by the audit team. Hence, it is not correct to assume, at this point, that the names listed therein were all qualified beneficiaries of the TES program,” the COA said.
UniFAST implements RA 10931 and distributes state-funded financial aid for college and technical-vocational students.
The JILCFI’s petition stated that it accepted 3,240 enrollees for the academic years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 and claimed unpaid TES of P45.69 million and P51.51 million, respectively.
In seeking payment, it cited its memorandum of agreement with the CHED and the UniFAST Governing Board, which states that budgetary appropriation shall be used by the Private Higher Education Institution exclusively for the purpose of the UniFAST to provide quality tertiary education to Filipino students.
But the COA en banc said applying for the TES does not mean it is automatically eligible for the program, which is meant only for qualified students.
It noted that under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 10931, approval of inclusion in the TES program was “subject to prioritization and availability of funds.”
“ln this case, the appropriation granted to the CHED RO lll is only sufficient to cover continuing grantees of the TES program,” it said.
The CHED Regional Office III received P4.874 billion for 2021 to 2023 and P4.1 billion was used for the TES payment for continuing grantees.
The P773.48 million balance was intended for continuing grantees for academic year 2023-2024.
But the COA en banc called out UniFAST’s failure to notify higher education institutions that it was not accepting new TES grantees for 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.
“At the very least, the UniFAST should have had already an insight regarding the non-acceptance of new TES grantees for the applicable AYs, based on the signed GAAs. Being the administrator of the program, UniFAST has the obligation to promptly notify qualified HEIs regarding any changes in the policy,” it said.
It also ordered a post-audit for transactions after being informed that the CHED Region 3 released partial payments of P21.45 million to JILCFI in 2023.