Tesda chief exposes grant of scholarships to ‘ghost’ students and vocational schools

After unearthing recently the distribution of P2.4 billion worth of scholarships by former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) officials sans any appropriations in the budget, another discovery was made showing more than half of them were allegedly granted to “ghost” students and vocational schools.

The Senate finance committee was told only P880 million out of the P2.4 billion of Tesda’s scholarship program was “implemented.”

“And from the audit report conducted by our team, about 70 technical vocational institutions were nowhere to be found, although 35 of them were claiming and asking us to pay them,” Tesda Secretary Emmanuel Joel Villanueva told committee chairman Sen. Franklin Drilon during the agency’s budget hearing.

“So are you saying that beyond the P800 million, these are fake claims?” the senator asked.

“It appears, your honor that these are fake names, fake scholars, fake schools,” Villanueva said, referring to the P1.2 billion unaccounted beneficiary institutions and students of the previous Tesda administration.

Despite the fact that 70 of the technical vocational institutions are neither not supported by documents in the agency’s programs or cannot be located, the Tesda chief said half are actually exacting payments or claims.

“Thirty-five out of the 70 institutions are actually claiming but we couldn’t contact any of their school officials, your honor,” Villanueva told the panel chairman.

Drilon lauded the decision of the current Tesda officials not to process payments of these claims, saving the government P1.6 billion.

“In the first place it was not appropriated so it’s unfunded, it’s unbooked and even if they continue to ask us to pay for it, we cannot do so because there was no appropriation your honor,” Villanueva said.

As to the P800 million disbursed by Tesda, actual services insofar as trainings for scholar-beneficiaries were actually rendered.

“These schools actually invested in this particular program (but) it was not appropriated. Again, it’s like issuing a bouncing check or receiving a bouncing check from the government,” Villanueva said.

What’s ironic about the whole thing, the Tesda official told Drilon, is that it is now the government that is being haled to court by these so-called “claimants.”

“Your honor, we had already sought the help of the Department of Justice. This is just one issue,” Villanueva said, adding procurement and other serious matters have been forwarded to the justice department for appropriate action.

The Office of the Ombudsman, just a couple of weeks ago, also asked that it be furnished with copies of the information.

Several months ago, Villanueva revealed that Tesda was swamped with demand letters from various learning centers claiming to have provided trainings to scholars of the agency and seeking compensation under the “Pangulong Gloria Scholarship” program of the previous administration.

He was told that during the incumbency of Tesda Director-General Augusto Syjuco who is now representing the second congressional district of Iloilo, the agency issued billions of pesos’ worth of vouchers that were used as scholarship certificates to some training centers.

But two years after, they remained unpaid simply because the agency had no appropriation allotted for the vouchers. –Angie M. Rosales, Daily Tribune