'P7 B senior high vouchers went to non-poor'

Aside from around 19,000 “ghosts” or undocumented students receiving government assistance, more than P7 billion was spent on non-poor beneficiaries of the senior high school voucher program (SHS-VP), according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

- CECILLE SUERTE FELIPE

“For me, it’s wastage and leakage. We need to correct this immediately. I plan to raise this during our budget hearing because we have to ensure that every centavo allocated to the government goes to our poor learners and efficient projects and programs. For me, based on the data we have seen, it shows that we’re not being efficient,” he said.

Gatchalian, chair of the Senate committee on Basic Education, raised the issue during a hearing on the implementation of the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E-GASTPE) Act.

The Senate panel earlier discovered that private schools have been accepting financial assistance from the government but could not prove the existence of almost 19,000 undocumented students who are supposed to benefit from the funds.