NAT cheating probe result out before school opening-NBI-6

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Results of the investigation on the alleged massive cheating in last year's National Achievement Test and this year's Regional Achievement Test in Barotac Nuevo town of Iloilo will be released before the start of the school year, the National Bureau of Investigation-Western Visayas said.

NBI-6 regional director Elfren Meneses said they are just waiting for the polygraph examiner from Cebu who will conduct the lie detector test on the teachers mentioned in the complaint of Gracia Malazarte, head teacher of Lico-an Elementary School. "After the polygraph test, we could wrap up our investigation," he said.

The NBI handled the probe last March and hinted that results are estimated to be released in three-month time. "It could have been earlier if not for some school activities that required the presence of the teachers who were part of the investigation," Meneses said.

Aside from Lico-an Elementary School, where the cheating allegedly took place, NBI-6 also looked into the 25 other schools in Barotac Nuevo.

The NBI-6 probe started after Provincial Board Member Gerardo Flores (1st dist., Iloilo) requested for an investigation on Malazarte's claims of massive cheating in her school.

A group of educators from various public elementary and high schools in Iloilo however assailed the veracity of Malazarte's allegations and hit these as demoralizing to them.

DepEd-6 director Mildred Garay has been conducting also an investigation on the allegations. — THE FREEMAN