Senator questions screening process for DepEd aid program

The Philippine Star

January 21, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Raffy Tulfo scrutinized the Department of Education’s Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E-GASTPE) program, which he said is being abused by some officials.

During the hearing of the Senate committee on basic education on Monday, Tulfo questioned the application process for E-GASTPE and asked who are actually being accepted into the program.

He said DepEd should conduct proper vetting of applicants to ensure that assistance is granted only to truly qualified students.

Tulfo asked how DepEd can be certain that students covered by E-GASTPE genuinely come from congested public schools, given how the agency admitted lack of sufficient capacity to properly screen beneficiaries.

Tulfo further insisted that the agency must thoroughly review and improve the program’s system, adding that the goal of E-GASTPE is to decongest public schools and accommodate students in other educational institutions.

At present, around 1.2 million students are enrolled under the E-GASTPE program. However, Tulfo asked whether the areas of participating schools have been properly identified and whether student beneficiaries are being effectively monitored.

He added that the program should prioritize the poorest of the poor, but said he has received reports of favoritism within the program, with many voucher recipients allegedly coming from non-poor households.

He said the program’s goals are not being met because of anomalies – ghost students, fly-by-night institutions (posing as) private schools, patronage politics” and others.

He also rued that some officials are making this like MAIFIP – Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients – favoring who will get vouchers.

All the money wasted could have been used for the education of millions of Filipino youth, he added.

Ultimately, Tulfo hopes to fix the system to institutionalize E-GASTPE program.

“For the 2026 budget, we have P41.18 billion allocated for the E-GASTPE program. And now we want to institutionalize it through a law. Believe me, I want this institutionalized. But subject to certain conditions.

“I want transparency in all the steps of this voucher program. All stakeholders should be aware of the program, the students, teachers, communities, public and private school institutions. There must be a record where this money will go and how area beneficiaries, student beneficiaries and private schools are selected. There must be auditing done,” he said.

Lastly, Tulfo directed DepEd to submit a complete list of participating schools to assess whether the E-GASTPE program is being properly managed and effectively implemented.