VP Sara says she wants results of NBI probe on alleged abuse in PHSA at soonest time

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Thursday said she wants the results of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) probe on alleged sexual and emotional abuse in the state-run Philippine High School for the Arts as soon as possible.

Duterte was referring to reports that PHSA personnel allegedly abusing students for more than a decade now, apparently taking advantage of the fact that the boarding school is in an isolated location in Laguna.

"Pumili po kami ng isang agency outside of the Department of Education na mag imbestiga po. Sumulat po kami sa NBI for review of [alleged] abuse sa Philippine High School for the Arts. Sinabihan po namin sila doon sa letter na we need the result of their investigation and their recommendations as soon as possible," Duterte told reporters after a brief visit in San Beda College where she studied law.

(We picked an agency outside of DepEd to investigate and we tapped the NBI. In our letter to the NBI, we told them that we need the result of their investigation and their recommendations as soon as possible.)

Duterte, also a lawyer, said she decided that DepEd should not dip its hands on the ongoing investigation since it could result in a cover up.

"Hindi na po kami nag imbestiga within the DepEd Central Office dahil I would expect na merong biases na mangyayari diyan," she said.

(We did not do the investigation anymore because I would expect that bias [of probers in favor of people within DepEd ranks] could come into play.)

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla also earlier said that he has tasked the NBI, an agency under the Justice Department, to prioritize the probe of the PHSA case. — Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News