Hontiveros flags 'ghost scholars' under CHED's free education program

Senator Risa Hontiveros has flagged ghost scholars under the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)'s scholarship program mandated by the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or Republic Act 10931, after her office received complaints from students.

"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," she said.

During the Senate budget hearing of CHED on Tuesday, Hontiveros also questioned CHED on its defective Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between UniFAST, CHED, and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) that led to P1 billion in parked funds since 2019 and prevented the implementation of the program.

"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?" she added.

The senator also brought up screenshots emailed to her office of the official UniFAST NCR and Region 10 Facebook pages whose admin urged students to post #IStandWithCHEDUniFast after the senator called for an investigation of the agency's P7 billion worth of 'questionable releases'. Comments underneath the post show more complaints from the students.

"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," 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. Stealing from our children is stealing from our future," she concluded.