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Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Mandaue bought books worth P1.873 million amid DepEd order
CEBU CITY -- The Mandaue City Government and its schools division authorized the publication of the supplementary material “Mandauehanong Mithi” even if the Department of Education (DepEd) suspended the purchase of supplementary reading materials last June.
The printing of the book, with the picture of former mayor Thadeo Ouano and son Jonkie on the inside front cover, prompted Mayor Jonas Cortes to order his technical working group (TWG) to look into the Special Education Fund (SEF) purchases.
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The TWG was formed by the mayor to look into projects and programs started by the previous administration.
It found out that last June 29, then acting mayor Amadeo Seno Jr. approved the payment of P1.873 million for the printing of 5,710 copies of “Mandauehanong Mithi,” a character-building book in Cebuano for pre-schoolers and Grade 1 students in Mandaue City.
The book was delivered and distributed but its purchase allegedly violated DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus’s order on procurement.
In his DepEd Order 38 dated June 7, 2007, Lapus stressed that the moratorium on procurement of supplementary and reference materials was still in force and had not been lifted.
“The procurement of supplementary and reference materials by all DepEd Offices is hereby suspended to ensure that available funds are instead used to address the current backlog of textbooks and teachers’ manuals...,” Lapus’s order stated.
The order also rescinded DepEd Memo 289 series of 2004, which recommended to local government units using their special education funds to buy books to purchase instead supplementary reading materials or library books.
Lapus’s order urged all DepEd offices to wait for the issuance of the implementing guidelines in the content evaluation of supplementary and reference materials before purchasing books.
Lapus also stated that a DepEd memorandum containing the list of approved supplementary and reference materials will be issued after the completion of the evaluation process.
When Sun.Star Cebu earlier sought the reaction of the DepEd 7 Director Carolino Mordeno on the printing of “Mandaue-hanong Mithi,” he said he has no control over the SEF. Mordeno said the school board is in charge of the fund. (OCP of Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (October 16, 2007 issue)
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