Cities Welcome Amendments to Special Education Fund, Call for Additional Support


By LCP Secretariat
August 22, 2020 - Quezon City


 

High-ranking members of the national government met with mayors and representatives from the cities of Bacolod, Escalante, Roxas, Iriga, Legazpi, and Iloilo in an online policy dialogue organized by the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) to discuss the proposed amendments to the DepEd-DBM-DILG Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 1, s. 2017 or the Revised Guidelines on the use of the Special Education Fund (SEF) for local governments.

 
The updating of the JMC marks a progress in the long-standing appeal of cities to liberalize the use of the SEF, a move that is seen as urgent given the tremendous task of LGUs in ensuring that learning will continue through the implementation of the DepEd’s Basic Education - Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) for the upcoming ‘stay at home’ school year which is set to start on October 5, 2020.
 
Education remains a priority agenda for the League. It has recently partnered with ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines, a USAID-supported early grades education project of DepEd working to strengthen the agency’s capacity to support and sustain improvements in reading, math and socio-emotional skills among early grade students to improve learning outcomes in schools of greatest need in Region V (Bicol), Region VI (Western Visayas) and in the province of Maguindanao in BARMM.
 
CALL TO REVISE SEF GUIDELINES
In his opening remarks, LCP National President and Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia welcomed the addenda in the revised JMC, some of which include items that have been lobbied for inclusion by cities.
 
He also made a call for the swift approval of the new circular in time for the start of the 2020-2021 school year as only DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones has signed the latest version. The DepEd spearheaded the latest JMC addendum which clarifies the use of the SEF in implementing the agency’s BE-LCP during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
In response, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Wendel Avisado avidly expressed his intent to sign the new JMC once their comments have been addressed by the education department. He also emphasized the importance of upholding the fiscal autonomy of LGUs and called on his fellow Cabinet members to acknowledge the SEF as a local fund.
 
“It is our responsibility at the national government to fund our own programs and not [use local funds],” Avisado said. “Let’s not do that, because that is an aversion to fiscal autonomy and nature and character of the funds pertaining to the LGUs.”
 
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Marivel Sacendoncillo, meanwhile, reiterated the agency’s commitment to acknowledge the full autonomy of LGUs in using the SEF, which has been evident in its push for the inclusion of a list of items not to be funded by SEF, or the so-called “negative list.”
 
The Commission on Audit (COA), however, did not support the proposal in congressional deliberations, according to DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla. Further, the Local Government Code of 1991 solely provides for a “positive list” and a purely negative list would entail an amendment to the code.
 
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR LGUs
During the dialogue, LCP Representative for Region V and Iriga City Mayor Madelaine Alfelor appealed for further support from the national government on behalf of cities faced with low SEF collections.
 
“We have a very low SEF collection because Iriga City is a fourth-class city, so the tax base is minimum and we are agriculture-based,” Alfelor said.
 
“We are appealing that the national government will help us since we have a minimal SEF and for the reproduction of modules alone, our SEF will already be maximized,” she added.
 
The mayor’s request is consistent with the League’s survey which revealed that 60\\\% of cities in the country are in need of supplementary support from the national government to finance BE-LCP expenses.
 
These cities include those with low SEF collections as well as cities facing an upsurge of learners, which will eventually take a toll on their high SEF collections.
 
Usec. Sevilla responded by saying that the PHP 10.9 billion budget realigned by her agency has been approved by the DBM and downloaded to DepEd regional offices last July, ready to be accessed by LGUs.
 
She added that DepEd will provide a report on the regional breakdown of the downloaded funds soon.
 
On the other hand, Secretary Avisado mentioned that LGUs may consider availing financial loans from the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines which can be used for educational purposes or other local COVID-19 response needs.
 
FURTHER CLARIFICATION NEEDED
The meeting saw the need to build a consensus around a version of the JMC that is acceptable to DILG, DBM, and DepEd as the provisions that require further clarification include the hiring of additional teachers by LGUs; preventing any duplication of items that might be charged to the SEF and the national budget; and the allowances given to nationally-hired teachers.
 
A suggestion was also made for the COA to attend future discussions to understand how disallowances in SEF-related expenses are made and the proposals to reduce the list of disallowed items.
 
Meanwhile, LCP members in attendance expressed their commitment to continue advocating the liberalization of the SEF and strengthening the fiscal autonomy of LGUs in financing the education needs of learners.
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