ARMM purges ‘ghost’ teachers in DepEd payroll

COTABATO CITY – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan has ordered the cancellation of the salaries of 31 public school teachers who were "long dead but still listed in the payroll."

Lawyer Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, ARMM’s regional solicitor-general, said they found out that the 31 teachers have been listed as "deceased" in the roster of the Philippine Public School Teachers’ Association (PPSTA) but have not been removed from the payroll until late last year.

"Someone must have collected the salaries of these teachers. We are now investigating this mess," Guiani-Sayadi said.

She is spearheading Ampatuan’s campaign to streamline and professionalize the region’s graft-ridden education department.

Hundreds of "ghost" teachers have been removed by Ampatuan from the payroll of the education department, in a fashion never before witnessed in the 15-year history of ARMM, since he assumed as regional governor in September 2005.

All of the ghost teachers were appointed long before the election of Ampatuan as governor of ARMM during the region’s fifth electoral exercise in 2005.

There were talks circulating in the ARMM’s education department that some of the 31 teachers have not really died, but reported themselves to have died of various causes to claim death benefits.

Guiani-Sayadi said some of the teachers are now employed abroad.

Most of the "dead" teachers who remained in the payroll are from Lanao del Sur and Marawi City.

The ARMM covers Marawi City, Shariff Kabunsuan, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, all in Central Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Ampatuan had also earlier delisted some 34 non-existent schools in the region being funded by the government.