Pasig City lone district Rep. Roman Romulo on Thursday, March 27, lauded the Department of Education's (DepEd) recovery of around P65 million from 38 schools that were flagged for their "ghost students" under the controversial senior high school voucher program.

Romulo, who is leading the House Education Committee's investigation into the irregularities in the voucher program, said he welcomed DepEd's efforts to hold those private schools accountable.

In a statement, He said the move was "a critical step toward safeguarding public funds and ensuring that government support reaches the learners who truly need it".

"Beyond refund and recovery, the ultimate goal is to restore integrity and credibility to our government assistance programs—ensuring that every peso reaches a deserving Filipino student," he added.

On Wednesday, March 26, DepEd said it recovered around P65 million from the said schools. Meanwhile, 14 schools have yet to refund money they owe to the education department.

Romulo, who also discovered gaps in the department's implementation of the project and made suggestions to address it, said he supports the department's ongoing reforms, including enhanced validation systems, full audits and digital transparency tools.

"We also underscore the importance of timely coordination between DepEd, the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC), and investigative bodies such as NBI (National Bureau of Immigration)  to decisively address abuse," he said.

"Where fraud or criminal intent is found, we expect appropriate charges to be filed. Malicious acts that defraud the Filipino people—especially at the expense of our learners—must never be tolerated," he added.

Romulo said Congress will continue doing its part to promote accountability as well as tighten its oversight and empower both public and private education partners to deliver quality, accessible and corruption-free education to the youth.