Petty corruption

Public elementary and high schools are currently undergoing sprucing and clean up of their learning institutions before the opening of classes on June 5. Dubbed as Brigada Eskwela, various government agencies and private organizations have teamed up for this annual cleanup and maintenance activities in all public schools nationwide.

No less than Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones led the national kick-off ceremonies for the Brigada Eskwela caravan in Negros Island Region last May 11. The 76-year-old Briones flew to Cebu last Monday for the regional and school division kick-off of the Brigada Eskwela, or the National Schools Maintenance week.

This year’s Brigada Eskwela theme, “Isang DepEd, Isang Pamayanan, Isang Bayanihan Para Sa Handa at Ligtas na Paaralan,” is a week-long event and will end this May 20. Top DepEd officials are currently traveling to different regions to join throughout this week to check on Brigada Eskwela activities across the country.

The yearly event meant to ensure that classrooms and entire premises of public schools are not only spic and span but would be safe and ready for students and teachers once classes start on June 5 this year. Since Brigada Eskwela started in 2003, it has evolved into more comprehensive activities that now include disaster preparedness from earthquake to floods and other calamities that disrupt classes.

In DepEd Memorandum No. 43 she signed on March 9 this year, Sec. Briones tasked the school heads “to take the lead role in planning the activities geared on making schools ecologically conscious, resilient, clean and conducive to learning.”

For this purpose, Sec.Briones re-issued the “Reminders for School Heads in the Implementation of 2017 Brigada Eskwela.” She reiterated this yearly pre-school activity “espouses the spirit of volunteerism.” Since it encourages volunteerism, DepEd allows “donations-in-kind and equivalent amount of materials used for the scope of work accomplished during the Brigada Eskwela week.”

The DepEd reminder states taking part in the school repair and other maintenance work “is not mandatory nor requisite for parents” to enable their children to be accepted in their school.

DepEd reminders clearly stated “no Brigada Eskwela fee shall be solicited from volunteers.”

When DepEd first launched Brigada Eskwela it was not mandatory for schools to participate. After seeing the effectiveness of this volunteerism program through the years, 100 percent of schools voluntarily joined, according to DepEd assistant secretary Tomasito Umali. So in the next school year, or in 2008, Umali recalled, DepEd issued an order mandating all schools to participate in the Brigada Eskwela.

Since 2003 when it was first implemented, DepEd has recognized most innovative projects and school implementers from among participating public schools of the Brigada Eskwela each year. DepEd also gives special awards for the highest increase in number of volunteers and highest increase in generated resource. No monetary prizes except the DepEd recognition award.

While DepEd purportedly espouses “volunteerism” policy on implementation of Brigada Eskwela, it turns out some school heads and principals have been piggybacking on another government program to enforce full participation of parents and students. Perhaps not known to the national office of DepEd, incentives to win the annual competition of Brigada Eskwela have made this laudable program mandatory for beneficiaries of the 4Ps, or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program  (or roughly translated Bridging Program for the Filipino Family).

This I learned from my former kasambahay for so many years. She comes and stays with us in our house, along with her son, during school vacation every summer. Her eight-year-old son will only be on Grade 4 when classes start next month. Since she settled down with her own family in Barangay Liponpon in Isla Verde, Batangas, she enrolled under the 4Ps to supplement her family income with her husband’s meager earning as a construction worker.

From 4Ps, her family gets P500 for health and additional P300 for the education of her son. 4Ps grantees get this additional P300 for education of each child up to three children per family. After President Rodrigo Duterte took office last year, he ordered the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to add P600 monthly rice allowance to all 4Ps beneficiaries.

By way of background, the 4Ps program was initiated in 2008 by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This anti-poverty program was crafted as her administration’s direct dole-out cash assistance to the so-called “poorest of the poor” Filipino families all over the country. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is the designated lead agency in implementing this program and disburses the annual budget for this purpose. To date, the DSWD reported there are now 4.4 million grantees of 4Ps with P65 billion budget for this year.

From what I gathered from her, the teacher of her son called her up the other day telling her to show up at the Brigada Eskwela for the lone high school in their far-flung community where you must take a banca to reach it from Tabangao. Since they are still staying with us, she asked her husband to just donate instead two liters of paint for the public elementary school where her son is enrolled as her participation and compliance to Brigada Eskwela.   

Incidentally, I was shocked to learn from her that she got P500 deduction from her monthly 4Ps after she failed to attend the meeting for 4Ps grantees last month. Supposedly, all 4Ps grantees are required to attend the regular meeting or seminar before they can get their cash 4Ps allocation. Because they live in a far-flung island, they get their 4Ps every two months in one meeting. So if a grantee missed one meeting, a total of P1,000 is deducted from their 4Ps.

While it is a good check for compliance of grantees of 4Ps, I just wonder if these deductions revert to government coffers. Is there a public accounting of these deductions? It would be sad if these purported deductions go to the pockets of corrupt dispensers of these public funds for the poor. The devil is in the details when you see such petty corruption creeps into good programs of government.