Palace uses DepEd funds to pay Osy workers” wages — union

The Department of Education (DepEd) – National Employees Union assailed Malacanang for allegedly using DepEd’s funds for an emergency employment program that turned out to be a political gimmickry meant to polish President Arroyo’s image.

Domingo Alidon, president of the 40,000-strong DepEd-NEU said the wages of more than 200 out-of-school-youths (OSY) tapped under Malacanang’s emergency employment program, which amounted to P10 million, were actually drawn from DepEd’s maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).

Alidon said the funds intended for such emergency employment program should have been sourced from Malacañang or from the President’s discretionary fund instead of DepEd’s fund.

“While we appreciate the creation of jobs (under this) program, although temporary, that helped these OSY and their families, their salaries and wages should not have been taken from DepEd’s budget,” Alidon said, adding that Malacanang’s move to charge the program’s payroll against DepEd’s budget had affected and jeopardized the interest of DepEd employees, including “teachers and non-teaching personnel and the education sector as a whole.”.

He said P10 million was allocated for the Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP) from DepEd’s MOOE.

Malacañang said more than 350,000 Filipinos had been given emergency jobs since CLEEP’s inception.

Alidon also said the diversion of DepEd funds could be one reason for the delay in the release of teachers’ and non-teaching personnel’s additional P3,000 Christmas bonus each. He said the Department of Budget and Management had not released the DepEd’s savings amounting to more than P10 million. The additional P3,000 bonus would have come from those savings.

DepEd employs over 500,000 public school teachers and approximately 40,000 non-teaching personnel. –Jason Faustino, Daily Tribune