Metro Manila, Philippines – The Department of Education has overhauled its senior high school voucher system and filed multiple legal cases after state auditors flagged the inclusion of so-called “ghost students” that risked the misallocation of public funds.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the department has already filed seven cases against private schools linked to fraudulent voucher claims, with about a dozen more under investigation and nearing formal charges.
“We have seven pending cases and, I think, about a dozen more that are under investigation and close to being filed,” Angara said in a press briefing Tuesday, Dec. 8.
The issue was raised after the Commission on Audit flagged irregularities in the Senior High School Voucher Program, including students listed as enrolled despite not attending classes or appearing multiple times in school records — problems auditors warned could lead to improper use of public funds.
Angara acknowledged the findings and said the department has since restructured how vouchers are processed.
“We changed the system. Before, payments were released immediately and in advance. Now, we really check the results — whether the learner is enrolled, the learner number — and we institute safeguards both at the school level and at the DepEd level,” he said. “We now cross-check our databases, which was not done before.”
Under the previous set-up, subsidies were advanced to participating private schools. The new process links payments to verified enrollment data and unique learner reference numbers, with multiple layers of validation before funds are released.
The department said it now conducts systematic cross-checking between the Voucher Management System and the Learner Information System, resolves discrepancies, and carries out post-audit monitoring visits and field inspections at private schools. Learner eligibility and enrollment are also revalidated during the second semester.
Asked whether the changes would prevent ghost students from recurring, Angara replied, “Yes, definitely.”
The secretary said tighter controls have already blocked the release of at least 200 million pesos in subsidies to ineligible beneficiaries during the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 school years.
