After receiving complaints from students, Senator Risa Hontiveros has flagged “ghost scholars” under the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) scholarship program mandated by Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
In a recent Senate budget hearing of CHED, she said, “Almost 400 students have sent complaints to my office that they have not received their education subsidy. Kasama dito, may mga reklamo na may mga ‘ghost scholars’ na nakakatanggap ng tuition reimbursement ng mga estudyante na naka-graduate na. So kung hindi ang mga bata, sino ang totoong nagka-cash in? Seryosong alegasyon ito na kailangan imbestigahan ng CHED.”
Hontiveros also questioned CHED on a flawed memorandum of agreement (MOA) between Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST), CHED, and the Development Bank of the Philippines that resulted in P1 billion in funds that were parked since 2019 and impeded the program’s implementation.
“Alam niyo naman na may problema sa MOA pero bakit hindi niyo ibinalik agad sa National Treasury ang P1 billion na nakalaan para dito? Hindi barya-barya ang pinag-uusapan dito. Naibalik niyo na ba ang naka-park na P1 Billion na ito sa National Treasury? Ano namang nangyari sa interest earnings nito? Mayroon pa bang ibang mga nakapark na pondo para sa libreng edukasyon na naka-tengga lang?” she asked CHED.
“Up to 3 years ang backlog ng CHED sa pag-release ng pera sa mga estudyante. Nasaan ang pondo?” the lawmaker continued.
She also mentioned screenshots of the official UniFAST National Capital Region and Region 10 Facebook pages, whose administrator urged students to post #IStandWithCHEDUniFast following the senator’s call for an investigation into the agency’s P7 billion worth of “questionable releases,” which were sent via email to her office. More student complaints can be seen in the comments section below the post.
“Sa mga e-mail na natanggap ko, huwag na daw na ipaalam ang identity nila. Ramdam ko na takot sila na malaman na nagrereklamo sila kasi baka lalo silang mawalan ng scholarship. At mukhang sa official social media pages pa, na-gaslight pa sila na kung maimbestigahan ang mga anomalyang ito, matitigil ang libreng pag-aaral nila. Gusto nating imbestigahan ito para maayos ang mga problemang nakakaapekto sa maraming estudyante, hindi itigil yung programa. There is a real climate of fear among students, and we at the Senate should find out who is instigating it,” Hontiveros said.
Stealing from our children is stealing from our future, she said. “Maraming magulang at bata na hirap na hirap ang humihingi ng tulong para makapag-aral sila. Gusto natin silang tulungan pa, kaya kailangan nating siguraduhin na ang dagdag pondo na nilalaan natin para dito ay totoong pupunta sa kanila, at hindi sa sinumang iba.”
Photo Credit: Senate website