Senator Sherwin Gatchalian renewed his call for the Department of Education (DepEd) to fix persistent problems in the Senior High School Voucher Program (SHS-VP), including ghost beneficiaries and the failure to prioritize the poorest learners.
His appeal followed the Commission on Audit’s 2026 audit report on DepEd, which flagged the absence of “clearly defined and standardized parameters” in assessing students’ financial capacity.
COA cited cases of beneficiaries with unexplained absences during monitoring visits, multiple listings across schools, and students marked “enrolled” despite not attending classes.
A 2024 Senate inquiry led by Gatchalian found that P7.21 billion was spent on non-poor SHS-VP beneficiaries in School Year 2020–2021, prompting him to push DepEd to refocus the program on those most in need.
“Nakakadismayang malaman na nagpapatuloy pa rin ang ganitong klaseng mga problema sa pagpapatupad ng senior high school voucher program, na dapat sana ay nakakatulong sa mga mag-aaral nating nangangailangan. Hindi na natin papayagang magpatuloy ito,” said Gatchalian, also chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance.IMT
