DECS uncovers P4.2-M pay for ghost teachers

The Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) has uncovered the release of some P4.2 million for "ghost teachers" in Eastern Visayas last year allegedly by a Payroll Service Division (PSD) employee and a janitor at DECS Central Office in Pasig City.

DECS Secretary Raul Roco said he was validating the report although the department has already asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the anomaly.

Roco expressed belief that if there are corrupt DECS personnel, they do not represent the entire majority.

"Ninety-five percent of them are clean. We’ll get the big snake," he vowed.

In a report, DECS Assistant Secretary Mario Bravo claimed the two suspects connived in the irregularity by using fictitious names of teachers.

From April to June 2000, the PSD employee prepared two supplemental or late payroll checks for legitimate teachers. The suspects also made checks for teachers using fictitious names from July to December.

The PSD employee was the one who encoded the illegal payments in diskettes and submitted them to the DECS’ Data Center for the printing of the checks.

After the checks were printed, the janitor segregated the checks with fictitious payments.

As a policy, payroll checks must be submitted to the Accounting Section for pre-audit and review. This, however, did not happen because the janitor had intercepted the checks.

"The identities of the personnel who are suspected to be involved in the irregularities are already known and the ‘modus operandi’ they employed to perpetuate this particular act was also uncovered," Bravo added.

Rolando Checa, head of DECS Payroll Service Division, said he got wind of the irregularity when he received a complaint letter on Jan. 15 from five employees of the PSD.

"I was alarmed with their information that there were irregular payments made under supplementary payroll committed by one or some of their co-employees who are assigned in that region," he added.

The employees learned about the anomaly when the illegally-prepared checks were delivered to the PSD office when the suspect was not around.

Checa said that on Feb. 9, he was able to confirm that the checks had been encashed at the First Bank and City State Bank, both located at the Paco Branch.

He added the PSD personnel-suspect was able to secure DECS identification cards for these people so the checks could be encashed. — Sheila Crisostomo