House probe into DepEd voucher program ‘ghost students’ sought

A congressional probe into undocumented beneficiaries of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Senior High School (SHS) voucher program has been proposed in the House of Representatives.

House Assistant Majority Leader Jil Bongalon of Ako Bicol party-list said that House Committees on Basic Education and Culture and on Good Government and Public Accountability should conduct a motu proprio inquiry into the alleged existence of "ghost beneficiaries," dating back as far as 2016.

“Hindi lang pera ng bayan ang nawawala, pati tiwala ng mga tao sa ating sistema ng edukasyon ay nasisira,” Bongalon said.

(This is more than lost money for the government. It also erodes public trust in our education system.)

The DepEd, currently led by Secretary Sonny Angara, earlier revealed that ghost beneficiaries of the program were seen in 12 private schools across nine divisions through submission of bogus enrollees list.

The potential amount of government money lost to fraud is at P52 million from School Year 2023 to 2024 alone.

“This ghosting scheme has been there for years, but how come it festered for so long? We need to find out the loopholes here and hold those responsible accountable,” Bongalon said.

While DepEd’s probe into the matter is already ongoing, the congressman added that there is a need for a parallel House investigation to ensure that DepEd officials, alongside school owners, are held to account.

“A congressional probe would complement DepEd’s efforts. Kapag sabay-sabay ang aksyon ng DepEd at Kongreso, walang lusot ang mga mandaraya,” he said.

(If the DepEd acts alongside Congress, fraudsters will not be able to get away.)

The SHS voucher program, which provides financial assistance to qualified students who want to enroll in private senior high schools, was introduced by DepEd to decongest public schools, expand educational opportunities, achieve an ideal teacher-student ratio and institutionalize specialized tracks aligned with the beneficiaries’ career goals.

“Kung hahayaan lang nating tuluyang mamayagpag ang mga gumagawa ng katiwalian, sino pa ang sasandalan ng mga estudyanteng tunay na nangangailangan?” Bongalon said.

(If the perpetrators of this fraud get away with this, who can our students depend on for help?) — BM, GMA Integrated News