Crime and punishment

Last month the Department of Education announced that it had filed criminal charges and civil cases for recovery against three people involved in fraudulent activities related to the Senior High School Voucher Program.

The three were not identified, and no details were provided by DepEd. Considering the amounts involved and the impact on public education, however, the public expects more indictments and the speedy resolution of the cases, to impose penalties and prevent a repeat of the fraud.

Under the SHS Voucher Program, the government provides financial assistance to allow qualified Grade 11 and 12 students to complete senior high school in private schools. Since the program was launched in 2015, about P50 billion has been disbursed.

DepEd has so far recovered about P65 million in misused funds, and expects to get up to P100 million in refunds. The department removed 54 schools from the program after determining anomalies including the use of ghost or non-existent students for voucher coverage for school years 2021 to 2023.

Those were the years when the country was struggling to continue formal education amid the COVID pandemic, and gradually transitioning back to normal. This aggravates the crookedness that went into the fraudulent claims for the voucher program.

So far, 38 of the 54 schools have reportedly fully refunded the government. Beyond demanding refunds, the DepEd must ensure that violators are identified, prosecuted and punished.

This is the concern raised in President Marcos’ shame campaign targeting politicians who have pocketed billions in funds meant for flood control: that no one will be punished, even if anomalous projects are unearthed and responsibility pinpointed.

Even in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and its highest policy-making body, all that two Monetary Board members had to do was resign amid accusations that they had kept ghost employees including their relatives on their payroll, and accountability was forgotten; everything has been swept under the rug. The BSP tossed the issue to Malacañang, which has tossed the matter to the ombudsman, while noting that former MB members V. Bruce Tolentino and Anita Linda Aquino had already left the government.

The message there is that when caught in an anomalous situation, all that public officials have to do is resign, and they are home free. This can only encourage a repeat of the anomaly.

Unless appropriate punishment is rendered, impunity takes root. It’s not enough to return stolen money; those involved in the SHS voucher scandal must not escape prosecution and punishment.