DepEd files criminal raps vs 7 private schools over 'ghost' voucher beneficiaries
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education has filed criminal cases against seven private schools accused of claiming subsidies for “ghost” beneficiaries under its senior high school voucher program, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Wednesday, September 3.
Angara told the House appropriations committee that DepEd’s legal department has brought the cases before the prosecutor’s office and sent demand letters to the schools involved.
“We filed a case against seven private schools that have ghost beneficiaries. So that has been filed at the fiscal office, and we have demand letters for that," Angara said during deliberations on DepEd’s proposed P928.5-billion budget for 2026.
The "total amount involved" is P61.9 million, Angara added.
Dennis Legaspi, DepEd media relations chief, told Philstar.com in a message that all cases filed by DepEd so far involves criminal charges, including estafa through falsification of commercial documents, and several violations of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
More schools may face charges as DepEd is still reviewing other similar cases. “We have a pending investigation in the legal department regarding similar situations. So we will update you as we go along,” Angara said.
Voucher fraud probe
The charges mark a major development in DepEd’s ongoing crackdown on private schools flagged for irregularities in their implementation of the senior high school program, where it pays private schools directly for a portion of the tuition of qualified Grade 11 and 12 students.
In July, DepEd’s government assistance and subsidies office filed charges of estafa through falsification of documents—both consummated and attempted—against three school officials linked to the anomalies.
In the same month, Angara said DepEd could recover over P100 million in fraudulent claims, on top of the P65 million that was ordered refunded from 54 schools that were removed from the program after being caught listing students who were either ineligible or did not exist.
In a House inquiry in March, DepEd said it withheld P200 million in subsidies for about 22,000 ghost students in school year 2023-2024 alone.
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