A government audit has raised concerns over how senior high school vouchers were validated and paid, citing irregular listings and weak screening that led to questionable disbursements during two school years.
According to a recent report by the Commission on Audit, reviews of the Senior High School Voucher Program for school years 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 uncovered beneficiaries who could not be accounted for during monitoring visits, as well as students recorded as enrolled despite not attending classes from the start of the term.
Auditors also identified cases where beneficiaries were charged to one campus or delivery mode but were actually studying elsewhere. In other instances, names appeared more than once—either within the same institution or across different participating schools—resulting in duplicate claims.
The audit detailed P868,500 in excess payments tied to repeated billings. “Specifically, a total of 39 VPBs bearing identical names but assigned different LRNs (learner reference number), and 722 VPBs with identical names and LRN, were found to have been listed and billed more than once in the same school year either within the same school or across different VP-participating SHS,” the report stated. “These lapses not only compromise the integrity of the program but may result in the misallocation of public funds intended primarily to support underprivileged learners,” it added.
Beyond duplication, the commission pointed to delayed and incomplete validation practices. It noted that the Department of Education only recently began using the Learner Information System for verification, despite similar findings having surfaced in earlier audits. “The recurrence of similar deficiencies strongly suggests that a significant number of such cases may have gone undetected in the previous years in the absence of adequate documentary requirements to facilitate thorough verification,” the report read.
The commission also questioned the lack of an independent check in the billing process, warning that reliance on a single entity for both billing and post-billing review could weaken oversight. “Entrusting the same entity with post-billing audit responsibilities may compromise the independence and objectivity of the validation process,” COA said.
Eligibility screening was another issue flagged. Auditors found that 3,356 students received vouchers totaling P62.9 million in SY 2023–2024 even though they were enrolled in private schools charging annual tuition of up to P317,000. “While the program’s objective does not intend to exclude or discriminate against any learner–-given that equal enjoyment of rights and privileges is constitutionally guaranteed–-the law mandates that preference be given to underprivileged students,” the audit body said.
DepEd agreed to the recommendation to formalize eligibility standards anchored on household income and other measures of financial capacity to better align voucher distribution with the program’s mandate.
