Senator Raffy Tulfo expressed concern over the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E-GASTPE) program, which he said is being abused by some officials.

During the Senate Committee on Basic Education hearing on Monday, January 20, Sen. Tulfo questioned the application process for E-GASTPE and asked who is 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 the agency's admission of a 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.

Currently, approximately 1.2 million students are enrolled in the E-GASTPE program. However, Sen. 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. Still, he said he has received reports of favoritism within the program, with many voucher recipients allegedly coming from non-poor households.

“Maganda sana ang programa pero hindi nito nagagawa ang layunin dahil sa mga kalokohan ng iba—ghost students, fly-by-night institutions na nagpapanggap na private schools, patronage politics, at kung anu-ano pa (The program could have been good, but it fails to achieve its purpose because of the wrongdoing of some—ghost students, fly-by-night institutions posing as private schools, patronage politics, and all sorts of other irregularities),” he said.

“Ginagawa rin itong parang MAIFIP (Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients) ng ilang opisyal—palakasan kung sino ang mabibigyan ng voucher. Lahat ng ito ay nag-aaksaya ng pondo na sana’y nakapagbigay ng edukasyon sa milyun-milyong kabataang Pilipino (Some officials also treat it like MAIFIP, favoritism determining who gets vouchers. All of this wastes funds that could have provided education to millions of Filipino youth),” he added.

Ultimately, Tulfo hopes to fix the system to institutionalize the 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.