Rep Jil Bongalon calls for SHS voucher fraud inquiry

On Thursday, February 27, Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Jil Bongalon called for a joint motu proprio inquiry into allegations of 'ghost beneficiaries' in the Department of Education's (DepEd) Senior High School (SHS) voucher program.

Bongalon cited reports that private schools have been listing non-existent students since 2016 to avail of government funds, leading to millions of pesos being lost and undermining public trust in the education system.

The potential amount of government money lost to fraud is at P52 million from School Year 2023 to 2024 alone, with DepEd revealing ghost beneficiaries in 12 private schools across nine regions through submission of bogus enrollees lists.

Pasig Rep. Roman T. Romulo, who heads the House good government and basic education committees, said that an investigation would be taken up in its next meeting to preserve the program's integrity and prevent further corruption.

Education Secretary Juan Edgardo 'Sonny' Angara has raised concerns about the prevalence of ghost students and DepEd could impose validation mechanisms to prevent voucher scams from happening again.