DepEd tightens checks on the senior high school voucher program and vows to prosecute fake billings
Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Friday, October 30, 2026, warned anyone trying to cheat the government’s school voucher program that the Department of Education (DepEd) will take them to court, as the agency reported that it has blocked hundreds of millions of pesos in questionable claims.
DepEd said it withheld more than P238 million in suspicious billings during school year 2025-2026 and recovered P79.1 million in refunds from non-compliant private schools.
“We are closing the systemic loopholes that unscrupulous individuals have taken advantage of in the past,” Angara said. “Intentional fraud against our voucher program is a crime against Filipino families. To anyone trying to cheat the system, DepEd will not hesitate to prosecute you.”
The crackdown is part of DepEd Order No. 11, series of 2026, which updated the rules of the Enhanced Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E-GASTPE). The order puts in place a five-layer billing validation process meant to catch non-existent beneficiaries and invalid claims under the Senior High School Voucher Program before any money is released.
DepEd is also pursuing criminal cases against erring private school administrators and former personnel. In July, a Regional Trial Court in Metro Manila sentenced a voucher scammer to more than 14 years in prison and fined the person P100,000 for submitting fake billing statements.
Under the newly ratified Basic Education Voucher Assistance measure, false voucher claims will be prosecuted as estafa, with fines of up to P500,000 and mandatory return of the funds. Once enacted, the measure will also extend tuition aid to middle-income families and to elementary learners from Kindergarten to Grade 6 starting school year 2027-2028, initially covering more than 292,000 learners in 2,632 private schools.
“By cleaning up our registries and strengthening our validation, we are protecting the integrity of the voucher program so that support reaches the learners and families who rely on it,” Angara said.