FILE PHOTO Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, who concurrently sits as the Department of Education’s (DepEd) secretary, ordered an investigation on the alleged maternity leave scam, agency’s spokesperson Michael Poa said on Friday.
Following Duterte-Carpio’s directive, the DepEd has already created a fact-finding committee to probe the incident, said Poa.
“Most of the members of the committee came from the Regional Office in [National Capital Region],” Poa told INQUIRER.net in a text message. “This is to ensure that the investigation will be impartial.”
This comes as an official of the DepEd Division of Taguig City-Pateros (DepEd-Tapat) revealed a supposed maternity leave scam, according to an ABS-CBN News report on Thursday.
According to the report, DepEd-Tapat Curriculum Implementation Division chief Dr. Ellery Quintia said some teachers allegedly filed for maternity leaves up to 11 times in three years, with one teacher even receiving money ranging from P35,000 to P61,000 from 2016 to 2019.
Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) on Friday said the education department should get to the bottom of the matter, pointing out that this scheme could involve teachers and other officials.
“It is unimaginable for a regular public school teacher to have masterminded and executed such a racketeering act. It is practically gambling his/her job, reputation, and whole future, which no one would dare lose, especially amid the severe economic crisis,” the ACT said in a statement.
“If ever there is truth to this, it is impossible for a teacher to do it single-handedly as many responsible personnel, including officials, need to be involved in claiming maternity leave benefits successfully,” it added.