The Department of Education (DepEd) clarified on Wednesday that there is only P653 million unliquidated cash advances made by the Department as opposed to the reported P1.6 billion by the Office of the Ombudsman.

DepEd Spokesperson and Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs Alberto Muyot said that as of this time, initial reports reflect that of the amount mentioned by Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, 60 percent were already liquidated as of June 30. “When Education Secretary Armin Luistro came in, only P653 million remain and are being liquidated until this time,” he stated.

Based on the report released by the agency last Tuesday, there is a total of P2.4 billion unliquidated cash advances concerning a number of government units including DepEd.

The Education Department topped the list of the least transparent among the nine government agencies when it comes to breakdown of salaries, wages, petty and field operating expenses, official travel expenses and intelligence and confidential funds for national and corporate sectors with P1.6 billion unliquidated cash advances.”