Revised Guidelines on Accreditation/Re-Accreditation of Private Entities Under the Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS) Program

DepEd Order 18, s. 2018

Revised Guidelines on Accreditation/Re-Accreditation of Private Entities Under the Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS) Program

 

 

I. RATIONALE

1. The Department of Education, as a government agency, is authorized by various laws, rules and regulations to deduct from salaries of its employees such amounts intended for the payment of contributions and other obligations due to specified government and private entities.

 

2. Such authorization, however, is concurrently limited by other laws. Section 21 of RA 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers states that “No person shall make any deduction whatsoever from the salaries of teachers except under specific authority of law authorizing such deductions”.

 

3. Section 66, Title I(A), Book V of the Administrative Code of 1987 provides that “Except as may otherwise be provided by law, it shall be unlawful for a treasurer or other fiscal officer to draw or retain from the salary due an officer or employee, any amount for contribution or payment of obligations other than those due the government or its instrumentalities”.

 

4. In addition, Congress has imposed limitations on the extent of the amount that may be deducted, as well as on the order of preference of the deductions, through the General Provisions of the General Appropriations Act (GAA). For 2018, the General Provisions of the General Appropriations Act include:

 

“Sec. 48 Authorized Deductions. Deductions from salaries and other benefits accruing to any government employee, chargeable against the appropriations for Personnel Services, may be allowed for the payment of an individual employees contributions or obligations due to the following, and in the order of preference stated below:

 

• a) The BIR, PHILHEALTH GSIS and HDMF;
• b) Non-stock savings and loan associations and mutual benefit associations duly operating under existing laws and cooperatives which are managed by and/or for the benefit of government employees;
• c) Associations or provident funds organized and managed by government employees for their benefit and welfare;
• d) GFIs authorized by law and accredited by appropriate government regulating bodies to engage in lending;
• e) Licensed insurance companies; and
• f) Thrift banks and rural banks accredited by the BSP

 

In no case shall the foregoing deductions reduce the employee’s monthly net take home pay to an amount lower than Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000)

 

5. In the implementation of authorized deductions, the DepEd is also under responsibility to consider the welfare of the teachers and employees. Among the powers, duties and functions of the Secretary of the Department of Education, as provided in Section 7 (A) of RA 9155 or the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001, is “(Enhancing the employment status, professional competence, welfare and working conditions of all personnel of the Department’.

 

6. The responsibility to look after the welfare of teachers and employees is also a policy of the President, as stated in his veto Message for the 2018 General Appropriations Act, as follows:

 

“III. Conditional Implementation

 

D. Protection to Government Employees

While I recognize the convenience to government employees in authorizing agencies to deduct the amount of their contributions and obligations to financing institutions under General Provisions, Section 48, “Authorized Deductions,” Volume I-B, p. 629, their overall protection remains to be my primordial concern. Government agencies are not merely collecting agents for these institutions, but influential representatives of government employees availing of this salary deduction facility. Government agencies should, therefore, leverage the facility given to these institutions to secure for government employees the most favorable terms possible for the protection of their rights and the promotion of their interest.

 

7. As part of DepEd’s implementation of the authorized deduction from salaries, it has been implementing a centralized Accreditation for the inclusion of private entities in its Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS). The Accreditation provides standards that private entities must comply with to be included in the APDS. The Accreditation also facilitates the orderly implementation of the limitations on authorized deductions, including the observance of the minimum monthly net take home pay (NTHP) as well as the order of preference of deductions.

 

8. This Revised Guidelines on Accreditation/Re-Accreditation of Private Entities under the APDS is issued to enhance the existing rules and criteria for Accreditation/Re-accreditation, for continuous systems improvement. Further guidelines relative to deduction from salaries of government employees may be issued by the Department as deemed necessary.

 

 

Read the full DepEd Order here:

• Department of Education Order No. 18 s. 2018. 
• Revised Guidelines on Accreditation/Re-Accreditation of Private Entities Under the Automatic Payroll Deduction System (APDS) Program