SENATOR Francis Escudero on Wednesday urged the Commission on Higher Education to regulate expenses charged against State Universities and Colleges in cases of meetings.

The senator made the statement during a hearing where the CHED confirmed that currently, it has only two functioning commissioners and one chairman out of the usual four commissioners and a chairman.

This was after one commissioner was dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman and another was placed under preventive suspension by the Office of the President.

Based on the information, the Office of the President in January issued a 90-day preventive suspension against Commissioner Aldrin Darilag over alleged grave misconduct, neglect in the performance of duty, and abuse of authority or oppression.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered the CHED in January 2024 to implement its decision finding Commissioner Jo Mark Libre guilty of nepotism and grave misconduct, stemming from complaints of alleged recommendation of nepotic appointment of his relatives under his immediate supervision.

Escudero stressed that one of the complaints against Libre was that he was conducting more than the number of regular meetings at the expense of the state colleges and universities and that he was being accompanied by family members and more than enough staff members at the expense of SUCs.

The senator further stressed that the practice of giving per diems to those attending meetings should also be looked into, saying those attending meetings in the CHED office in Manila should no longer be entitled to per diems.

“Kung nasa Manila naman ang meeting, di ba parte ng trabaho ng taga DBM yun, minsan may DTI, may DA, especially from CHED, sa opisina na niyo mismo e, bakit may per diem pa, dapat wala na di ba. These practices started before Popoy’s (CHED chair Prospero de Vera) time. Maybe he is in the best position to look into it, especially after the debacle that Libre faced. It’s about time you addressed it,” Escudero said.

CHED Executive Director Cinderella Jaro said De Vera even before Libre’s dismissal already issued a memorandum to commissioners specifying the ethics and code of conduct, as well as limiting the number of board meetings.

Escudero said per diems may be allowed when meetings involve travel to the SUC and that officials should limit the number of accompanying people.

“Kung kotse ang susundo sa kanya, makisakay doon ok pa rin yun, wala namang problema, yung airfare lang, yung transportation costs and per diem, wala na dapat sila, hindi na dapat kasama,” Escudero said.