SHS voucher program’s beneficiary legitimacy issues reported to DepEd – PEAC

 (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)

MANILA, Philippines  — The Department of Education (DepEd) was informed as early as 2016 that there were cases of students having several learning reference numbers (LRNs) who were enrolled in different schools, a private committee said during a congressional hearing on issues related to the Senior High School voucher program.

At the hearing of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture on Wednesday, committee chairperson and Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo asked the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC) why they did not immediately utilize the Learner Information System (LIS) in validating whether beneficiaries of the voucher system are legitimate students.

DepEd rolled out the voucher program in 2015 in a bid to make senior high school education more accessible to students in low-income families and minimize overcrowding in public schools as grantees may enroll in private institutions using the vouchers.

The value of voucher ranges from P14,000 to P22,500, depending on the student’s location.

PEAC was scrutinized after it was revealed last March 6 that DepEd terminated the participation of 55 schools in the SHS voucher program for various reasons, including the alleged cases of of “ghost students.”

In response, PEAC Monitoring and Processing Unit Head Rod Malonzo said they refused to tap the LIS because there were several issues before — like multiple LRNs and enrolled schools for a single student.

“Ang tagal na no’ng LIS system, so my question is, bakit hindi tayo nag-LIS system dati pa?” Romulo asked.

(The LIS system has existed for a long time already, so my question is, why did we not use the LIS system before?)

“Actually, we already are connected with the LIS since the start of the voucher program in 2016 to 2017.  However, there are issues with the LIS before, like for example, in 2016, some students had several learner reference numbers, even if iisa lang ‘yong bata, isang bata but several learner reference numbers,” Malonzo replied.

(… for example, in 2016, some students had several learner reference numbers, even if it was only for one child, one student, but that student had several learner reference numbers.)

“And there are also issues with the billing.  Kasi sometimes we see in the LIS that the student is enrolled in multiple schools, one or two schools.  So ‘yon ‘yong mga (So these are the) issues during the first years of implementation of the program,” Malonzo added.

Romulo then asked if that would have been a red flag already — because the different LRNs and enrolled schools could have been used to claim several vouchers. 

Malonzo then said that these issues were reported to the DepEd.

“Yes, but would that not have been a red flag already on your part?  Kasi kung nakita ninyo na merong isang studyante na maraming learner reference numbers or naka-enroll siya in various schools, hindi ba red flag na ‘yon?” Romulo asked.

(Because if you have seen students with many learner reference numbers or enrolled in various schools, isn’t that a red flag already?)

“Actually, yes. This was reported also to DepEd, ‘yong mga LRNs or learners that were billed in multiple schools and also the learners with multiple LRNs.  This was actually reported to DepEd since 2016.  I can’t recall the exact year,” Malonzo replied.

When Romulo turned to DepEd Government Assistance and Subsidies Service Director III Tara Rama, she declined to comment as the incident happened when a previous DepEd administration was still in office.

DepEd Bureau of Learning Resources Director III Jayson Lacbayan meanwhile explained that schools really can create multiple LRNs for their students, but these are being currently checked to avoid double entries.

“Actually, a school can create multiple numbers of LIS numbers as they enroll, but as we go on with the LIS, they are now already checked and blocked kaya pwedeng magkaroon ng doble-doble, pero ngayon nache-check na rin,” Lacbayan said.

(Actually, a school can create multiple LIS numbers as they enroll, but as we go on with the LIS, they are now already checked and blocked, that’s why there is the possibility of double entries, but we are checking that now.)

DepEd found itself on the hot seat again after it was revealed that it terminated the participation of 55 schools due to the alleged presence of ghost students in the voucher program — or a supposed practice of allocating assistance for students who are not enrolled in schools or are not availing of the program.

During the previous hearing, Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel Manuel asked Director Rama about the number of vouchers released to these schools, to which the DepEd official said that the agency withheld P200 million worth of vouchers after spotting “discrepancies” from the schools.

“We cannot say that they were ghost students because it might be that they went to a private school for the first few months, and then later they left and went back to a public school because of a problem. We cannot say for sure that they were all ghost students,” she explained in Filipino.

Regarding the 12 private schools currently under investigation due to SHS students found to be nonexistent, the DepEd earlier said it stopped the release of vouchers and saved over P50 million in taxpayers’ money.

Last February, Education Secretary Sonny Angara  said the “potential defraudment” under the program amounted to P52,571,500, covering the School Year 2023 to 2024.  Angara, however, did not identify the schools and only revealed that they are located in Metro Manila, Davao, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Eastern Visayas and the Bangsamoro region.