To:     Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau Directors
Directors of Services, Centers and Heads of Units
Regional Secretary, ARMM
Regional Directors
Schools Division Superintendents
Heads, Public Elementary and Secondary Schools

1. The Department of Education (DepEd) issues the Fiscal Year 2015 Guidelines on the Utilization of Financial Assistance to Schools Implementing Special Curricular Programs. These unified guidelines are for the second year with its standardized implementation process of financial assistance to the following special curricular programs:
   1. Support to Special Science Elementary Schools (SSES);
   2. Support to Secondary Schools with Special Program for the Arts (SPA)
   3. Support to Secondary Schools with Special Program for the Sports (SPS);
   4. Support to Science, Technology and Engineering High Schools (formerly ESEP); and
   5. Financial Assistance to Regional Science High Schools (RSHSs).
2. Enclosure No. 1 contains the basic features and rules in the utilization of funds for each program.  It specifically provides guidance on allocation and eligible activities and expenditure items. It also includes the work plan and accomplishment templates to facilitate progress monitoring and program evaluation. It is therefore imperative to strictly follow the basic rules to avoid disallowance and other implementation issues.
3. The funds of the five special programs have been lodged already at the Regional Offices (ROs) as part of the Comprehensive Release of Allotment. These funds shall be used for expenses classified under Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) as prescribed in Annex A of the Commission on Audit (COA) Circular 2003-001 on the Revised Chart of Accounts under the New Government Accounting System (NGAS). To facilitate judicious and smooth implementation of the said programs, this Department specifies the roles and responsibilities of each level of governance, the monitoring and evaluation mechanism and the specific timelines.
   1. Planning Phase
      1. Upon the issuance of these guidelines, the RO shall communicate to the Schools Division Offices (SDOs) concerned, the availability of funds and the need for the recipient schools to prepare the Work and Financial Plan (WFP) per funding source. The SDO immediately issues the call for the submission of individual work and financial plan of the recipient schools through the Program Management Information System (PMIS). The activities in the WFP should be supportive to the program objectives and should be based on the provisions stated hereof.
      2. Using the prescribed offline Excel-template which shall be directly generated by the recipient schools or the SDOs from the PMIS or through online encoding in the system, the schools shall prepare the WFP specific to the fund support and shall be subject for the SDO’s appraisal. Projects and activities chargeable to the fund may be culled out from the approved Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) and School Improvement Plans (SIPs) of the schools.
      3. The SDOs shall form a core group composed of planning officer, accountant, education supervisors handling the special programs, and assistant schools division superintendent (ASDS); and identify internal processes to appraise WFPs.
      4. Once appraised, the SDO shall communicate to the concerned school any feedback or needed clarification. In turn, the school shall provide explanation or justification as applicable, and revises the work plan based on agreement using the PMIS. The SDS or his/her designated official shall be the final approving authority. Once signed by the SDS, the division planning officer or his/her designated staff shall confirm the WFP to the PMIS. Once the work plan is confirmed in the system, the RO-PPRD may view/monitor the status of each WFP submitted by the recipient schools in their respective regions. The SDO shall subsequently revise the Monthly Disbursement Program (MDP) using the Financial Plan format provided in Enclosure No. 3 and submit the same to the RO-Finance Division.
      5. The RO-PPRD, in coordination with the regional supervisor in-charge of the program, shall endorse the submitted and SDO-approved physical and financial plan (PFP) and the list of recipient schools to the RO-Finance Division for the release of funds.
   2. Release of Funds
      1. To effect the revision in cash programming, the RO-Finance Division shall submit a revised MDP to the concerned DBM-RO. To fast-track release of funds, the RO-Finance Division may simultaneously effect the transfer of the allotment to the respective units through the issuance of Sub-Allotment Release Order (Sub-ARO) as follows:
         1. SDOs for Non-Implementing Units (Non-IUs); and
         2. Implementing Units (IUs).
      • Once the funds are released, the RO-Finance Division shall record the details of Sub-ARO release to the PMIS in order to notify the recipient units of the fund release.
      2. Upon receipt of the Sub-ARO, the SDOs and/or the IUs shall record such receipt and obligation of allotment in the Registry of Allotments and Obligations for MOOE (RAOMO) being maintained by the respective units. Simultaneously, recipient units shall confirm the receipt of the fund release in the PMIS prior fund utilization. The SDOs, through its division accountant or his/her designated staff shall confirm the receipt of fund in behalf of Non-IUs while the school heads (SHs) of IUs shall confirm the receipt of funds for their schools. The SDOs and/or IUs shall request release of Notice of Cash Allotment (NCA) from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), supported by the copies of Sub-AROs corresponding to the amount as reflected in these guidelines.
      3. Upon receipt of the NCA, the SDOs shall effect the transfer of the allocated amount to the heads of the Non-IUs in the form of cash advance. The cash advance shall specify the name of the school to which the subsidy is allocated and the purposes for which the subsidy is to be applied.
      4. For Non-IUs with large allocation, the SDOs may release the cash advance in tranches depending on the timelines in the approved work plan. Subsequent cash advance(s) may be given, provided that at least 75% of the previous cash advances have been liquidated. No succeeding releases shall be made unless previous cash advances have been fully liquidated and accounted for.
      5. In cases where SHs could not draw cash advance due to legal and administrative impediments, the SDS shall take immediate appropriate action to ensure that such schools will not be deprived of the subsidy.
      6. For IUs, the funds shall be disbursed in accordance with the schedule as indicated in the approved WFP.
      7. All funds received shall be utilized according to the eligible activities and expenses specified in Enclosure No. 1.
   3. Liquidation Process
      1. The liquidation of all recipient schools shall be immediately after the conduct of each activity.
      2. Every fifth day of the month, after the conduct of an activity, the Non-IUs shall submit their utilization and/or liquidation reports to their respective SDOs using disbursement report form for verification and proper reporting, monitoring, and consolidation. The amount specified in the liquidation report shall be the basis for the monthly financial accomplishment that will be reported in the PMIS.
      3. The supporting documents needed for liquidation are the following:
         1. Official Receipts (ORs)/Cash/Sales Invoice with OR;
         2. Reimbursement Expense Receipts (RERs);
         3. Cash Disbursement Register (CDR); and
         4. Other supporting documents to vouch for related transactions.
      4. Supporting documents of IUs regarding the utilization and/or liquidation reports shall be retained in their respective schools. However, a report copy must be submitted to the SDO on or before the fifth day of the following month every quarter to serve as means of verification for the financial accomplishment report that will be recorded by IUs in the PMIS. All supporting documents of Non-IUs shall be retained in their respective schools divisions.
   4. Progress Monitoring and Reporting
      1. The recipient schools shall submit a monthly Physical and Financial Accomplishment Report through the offline Excel-template generated from the PMIS or online encoding in the system on or before every second day of the following month.
      2. The SDO, through the core team per Item 3.1.3, shall review the reports and the supporting documents received from the recipient schools and provide technical assistance if necessary. Once the reports are verified, the Planning Officers or his/her designated staff shall confirm the quarterly report in the PMIS every 5th day of the following month of the succeeding quarter.
      3. These reports will be automatically available in the system.
   5. The detailed process flow of implementation is reflected in Enclosure No. 4. Instructions on filling up the required templates are provided in the respective enclosures.
4. The recipient schools with the corresponding allocation per school are listed in Enclosure No. 2. The additional three schools from Region I (2) and Region II (1) shall be identified and endorsed for inclusion to the SSES Program by the Bureau of Elementary Education (BEE).
5. All existing Orders and Memoranda inconsistent with this Order are rescinded. These guidelines shall remain in effect, unless sooner repealed, amended, or rescinded.
6. For inquiries related to PMIS, all concerned may contact Ms. Perseveranda Gonzales of the Office of Planning Service-Planning and Programming Division (OPS-PPD), 2^nd Floor Teodora Alonzo Building, Department of Education Central Office (DepEd CO), DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City at telephone no.: (02) 633-7216; telefax no. (02) 638-8634 or send a message through email address: perseveranda.gonzales@deped.gov.ph.
7. For more information and inquiries, all concerned may contact the Office of the Undersecretary for Programs and Projects, Ground Floor Rizal Building, Department of Education Central Office (DepEd CO), DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City at telephone nos.: (02) 633-7202; 636-4879 and fax no.: (02) 687-4146.
8. Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is directed.

(Sgd.) BR. ARMIN A. LUISTRO FSC
Secretary

Encls.: As stated

Reference: DepEd Order: No. 15, s. 2014

To be indicated in the Perpetual Index under the following subjects: