Tuesday, January 31, 2012

DepEd Regional Secretary starts reforms in DepEd-ARMM

COTABATO CITY, Jan. 30 (PIA) -- The newly appointed head of the Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao DepEd-ARMM) vows to push needed reforms in support of OIC-regional governor Mujiv Hataman's reform agenda for the region.

Atty. Jamar Kulayan who was recently appointed by Hataman as DepEd-ARMM regional secretary assured to pursue reforms to address and resolve the perennial problems hounding the agency in order to improve the quality of education in the region.

Kulayan said initial steps being undertaken are the inventory of teachers and school buildings, review of their qualifications, and compulsory preparation of lesson plan, among others.

“Hindi sila gumagawa kundi bumibili ng lesson plan at ang danger diyan hindi tugma sa school curriculum, dahilan upang makumpromiso ang kalidad ng pagtuturo so we are pursuing a uniform lesson plan,” ( They (teachers) buy ready made lesson plans instead of preparing it. The danger in this is that it does not conform to the curriculum set thus comprising the quality of teaching, so we are pursuing a uniform lesson plan), Kulayan said.

Kulayan said, he will issue guidelines and schedule for the submission of requirements including the Daily Time Record to avoid unnecessary delay in the release of salaries assuring regular open dialogue with school officials and teachers in a bid to improve and enhance implementation of DepEd’s programs and services in the autonomous region. (pbchangco/PIA Cotabato City)  


Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?searchID=deped-armm&article=1661327907758

Friday, January 27, 2012

ARMM met with GSIS on remittance mess

GSIS Task Force ARMM meets with officials of the ARMM

GSIS Task Force ARMM meets with officials of the ARMM
On 27 January 2012, Trustee Mario "Mayong" Joyo Aguja, chair of the GSIS Task Force ARMM, met with officials of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao to discuss the GSIS issues affecting the 20,000+ teachers in the region. Also present in the said meeting are Atty. Dionisio Ebdane Jr., Senior Vice President for Visayas and Mindanao Operations, Atty. Belen James, Regional Manager for the Zamboanga Regional Office, and Manager Irene Tayag, Manager for Corporate Communications.

Source:  http://www.gsis.gov.ph/default.php?type=root&id=259

Sunday, January 22, 2012

ARMM gov to use biometrics to check absentees, ghost employees

COTABATO CITY — Governor in-charge Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao announced Saturday plans to deploy a time monitoring system using biometrics in the region’s various offices to combat absenteeism and ghost employees.

In batting for biometrics, he said, that no two individuals shared the same profile. The biometrics system also does not allow duplicate profiles to be stored.

Hataman announced the plan as he admitted that the problem on non-existent employees in particular was serious.

In the region’s Department of Education (DepEd) alone, Hataman said documents provided to him gave a bird’s eyeview of how serious the problem was.

He said, for example, that the DepEd documents, such as payroll sheets, have names of teachers without addresses and schools of assignment.

Such is wayward situation, he said, which had been “deliberately perpetuated” in the past.

“I think this deeply-rooted corruption does not only originate from one or two past administrations. It’s a system that had been tolerated, deliberately made or has evolved into larger system of graft,” Hataman said.

He said the payroll system that some international donor agencies have helped put up was being tweaked to support the corrupt practices.

The software of the anti-corruption systems had been found containing insufficient data and information, even only on personnel and teachers’ profiles, Hataman said.

He said he wanted to push the biometric system, initially for employees of the Office of the Regional Governor and then for the region’s almost 20,000 teachers.

Hataman said he was also considering establishing a databank system for ARMM.

He said he also directed ARMM agencies to be more transparent in their dealings by posting these on the web.

Agencies that have not established or maintained websites should have one for open governance and to achieve high standards of transparency and accountability of public funds, Hataman said.

Nash Maulana, ARMM director for information, said Hataman wanted a databank system with graduated levels of protocols, not only for website information, but also one to provide support for academic and development researchers, as well as investigative journalists.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/131893/armm-gov-to-use-biometrics-to-check-absentees-ghost-employees

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Hataman assures equitable representation in ARMM cabinet posts

COTABATO CITY, Jan. 20 (PIA) - While rigorous screening and interviews of prospective candidates and job applicants to vacant cabinet positions continues in the autonomous region, OIC-regional governor Mujiv Hataman assured equitable representation to man the bureaucracy.

Hataman emphasized strong adherence to merit system in the selection process of appointees adding that qualifications and performance matter in pursuit of good governance through instituting reforms and changes in ARMM.

“Nadadagdagan iyung mga candidates for regional cabinet posts and heads of offices so humahaba iyong screening and selection process based on merit and fitness. Tinitiyak natin ang equity representation,” he said.

On January 18, after three weeks in office, Hataman announced a partial list of appointees that include regional secretaries Engr. Emil Sadain for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Muslimin Jakilan-Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Sakula Tindick-Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF),

Atty. Jamar Kulayan-Department of Education (DepEd), Abdulhalim Mohammad-Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Marites Maguindra-Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Kahal Kedtag-Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Dr. Kadil “Jojo” Sinolinding, Jr.-Department of Health (DOH), Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman, Jr.-Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Norkhalila Mae Mambuay-Campong-Cabinet Secretary, Atty. Abdulmuin Pakam-Solicitor-General, and Nash Maulana at Executive Director of ARMM’s Bureau of Public Information (BPI). 

The new appointees were immediately sworn into office by RG Hataman during a simple oath taking ceremony held at the ORG conference room.

As this developed, Hataman assured to release more cabinet appointments in the coming days to complete the team that would help in bringing about reforms toward good governance and enhance economic growth in the region. (pbchangco/PIA Cotabato City)

‘Ghost teachers’ in ARMM continue to draw salaries, bonuses

By Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao

LAMITAN CITY, Philippines—The name of Laly Sumampil Muntasir, a teacher at the Mabini Elementary School here, continues to appear on the payroll of the Department of Education (DepEd) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao — nearly a year after she died.

Even more surprising, according to Edren Lindio, DepEd district planning officer here, is that her salaries and bonuses were still being withdrawn from the Land Bank of the Philippines branch in Isabela City.

The latest withdrawals by still unidentified persons were of her salary for December amounting to P15,741.18 and Christmas bonus of P10,000, Lindio said.

Lindio told the Inquirer that Muntasir’s death had been properly relayed to the DepEd ARMM’s payroll and service unit.

Lilia Tormento, also a Mabini Elementary School teacher who retired in July 2011, said she had personally notified the DepEd’s ARMM office of her retirement to speed up delivery of her benefits.

To her dismay, Tormento said, she has discovered that her name is still on the DepEd ARMM’s payroll. In fact, another person withdrew her November 2011 salary.

As for her December salary, she personally withdrew it from LBP.

“I executed an affidavit that I was able to receive my salary for the month of December despite being retired from teaching,” Tormento said, adding that she submitted a formal complaint with the DepEd district office in Lamitan City.

Lindio said he could not understand why non-active teachers continue to get their salaries.

He said the payroll they submit to the regional office was being updated whenever a school teacher retires or dies.

“We put remarks on our payroll list submitted to the regional office and advised them to stop issuing checks for salaries,” Lindio said.

But he said that despite repeated notices, “we keep on receiving the same old payroll report, nothing changed or updated, names of retired and dead teachers are still listed on their masterlist.”

What was even more disturbing, he said, was that some people were withdrawing the salaries.

Lindio said they had asked Land Bank officials to furnish them copy of the payroll document so they could determine who signed and withdrew salaries for non-active teachers.

Mujiv Hataman, ARMM governor-in-charge, said Muntasir and Tormento’s cases were just among the “countless cases of ghost teachers and anomalous transactions” at the DepEd ARMM.

“This is just one district in Basilan. There are still big provinces like Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao,” Hataman said, implying the situation could be worse.

He said the newly appointed DepEd ARMM caretaker has admitted that corruption and anomalies were among the biggest problems at the ARMM education department.

Hataman said that aside from salaries for dead or retired teachers, they have found also out that DepEd ARMM has not been remitting premiums or teachers’ loan amortizations to the Government Service Insurance System. The unremitted amount, he said, now totaled P1.9 billion.

Nash Maulana, director of the ARMM’s Bureau of Public Information, said withholding taxes were automatically remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Hataman pointed to another glaring anomaly in the ARMM’ DepEd payroll system: A number of teachers have no traceable addresses and precise school assignments are not indicated after their names.

“I have directed them to produce to me in a month’s time documents on the number of schools with the number of performing teachers,” he said. “So far, I encountered more than a hundred ghost teachers.”

Former ARMM Education Secretary Baratucal Caudang would not take responsibility for the anomalies.

“Nothing irregular or anomalous under my term, I have instituted reforms and transparency and I have nothing to worry on this,” he said.

Caudang said he could not be blamed for the mistakes of his predecessors, an allusion to the regional education secretaries under the Pangandaman, Misuari and Ampatuan regional administrations.

The initial step his administration has undertaken is to require all teachers to apply for new automated teller machine (ATM) cards, Hataman said, adding this would solve the problem of ghost employees.

“We have to put an end to these irregularities,” he said, adding that a valid bank account is one way of ensuring the existence of an employee.

Hataman said he expected all employees to have ATM cards by February.

In the meantime, teachers, who have not been issued ATM cards yet, should draw their salaries from the Office of the Regional Governor in Cotabato City.

The lack of ATMs in remote areas of the region is not a compelling reason to make exemptions, according to Hataman.

He said he was not convinced that teachers in far-flung areas don’t go into town at least once a month.

(With reports from Charlie SeƱase and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao)

Monday, January 9, 2012

Briefing with ES

9 Jan 2012, the DepEd-ARMM is to brief the new ARMM Executive Secretary and his party. The brief will focus on the agency's organization and management system, personnel management system, fiscal management system, regional madrasah system, basic education performance and information system, and programs and projects.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Philstar: ARMM owes GSIS P1.9 B

By John Unson 

COTABATO CITY ,Philippines – The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao owes the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) some P1.9 billion in unpaid premiums, ARMM officer-in-charge Mujiv Hataman has learned.

Some local government units in the autonomous region have not remitted another P800 million worth of GSIS premiums deducted from the salaries of its employees.

Representatives of the GSIS, in a meeting with ARMM officials here yesterday, said at least 10 regional agencies have also not been remitting their premiums. The GSIS has suspended loan applications of the 10 agencies.

“This P1.9 billion in unpaid obligations with the GSIS is horrible. This is a big, big problem,” Hataman said.

Hataman has ordered an investigation of government agencies or officials who refuse or fail to remit contributions of GSIS members despite the release of funds from the budget department since the ARMM’s creation in 1990.

He said former ARMM officials usually replaced finance and budget officials upon assuming office.

“Some (budget employees) were placed on floating status and relieved of their duties simply because they did not enjoy the confidence of their new superiors or maybe because they would not want them to become accomplices to irregularities,” he said.

Prior to his meeting with GSIS representatives, Hataman had a dialogue with school principals, district supervisors and division superintendents under Department of Education (DepEd)-ARMM at the Shariff Kabunsuan Complex.

Helen Delgado, a school principal in Lantawan, Basilan, said many of them have not been receiving their salaries and other benefits on time.

“There were some of us who were due for promotion, after having passed all screening processes and complied with all requirements. But we found out that the names in our appointment papers have been replaced with those who are not even qualified,” she added.

Hataman promised to look into the complaints of the teachers, adding that DepEd-ARMM employees would soon get their salaries through automated teller machines.

Source: 

Friday, January 6, 2012

Changing of the guards

The new year coincides with the changing of the guards in ARMM. A Transition Team has visited DepEd-ARMM and we are happy to host and brief them about what's has been, what's going on, what's in the pipeline and listen to what and how the new leadership will pursue education reforms. 

The new leadership heralded their entry by releasing teachers' salaries for December through bank windows. In their words, this should eventually lead to an ATM-based payment scheme. No more "middlemen" at the regional, division, district and school levels. This is part of the anti-corruption drive of the OIC Regional Governor.

Series of meeting have been undertaken with regional and division managers. Yesterday, a consultation was held with CSC and CoA reps in attendance.

We are still waiting as to what will be the final management set-up for DepEd-ARMM. We learned that this should happen before the end of January 2012.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Scoping

We've found out that about 24% of all barangays in the region do not have schools. This means we have a big number of out-of-school children. because they are not reached by our mainstream delivery model, BEAM-ARMM proposed to undertake alternative delivery of the formal education in these school-less barangays.

Currently, the ADM project is scoping these school-less barangays - is there really no school in the barangay? is there enough 5-year old children to organize a kinder class or enough 6-10 year-old to organize an elementary cohort? Will the situation on the ground allow for ADM to be delivered? and and more are being ask by validators as they go around with DepEd reps, meet with community leaders and inspect the community.

When this is done and the PMU have chosen local NGO partners, it is only then we will finally have an idea as to which of these school-less barangays will be prioritized this year.

"Moral Governance"

English - "Good governance for a progressive and peaceful BARMM."

Sinama - "Hap pamarinta tudju BARMM na sambu maka salamat"

Bahasa Sug - "Dan mabuntul tudju pa BARMM masambu iban mahatul"

Meranaw - "Mathitu a kandatu sa BARMM ko katagompiya go kalilintad"

Slogan

"Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE)"