DepEd dares Pacquiao: Name official involved in corruption

The Department of Education on Sunday challenged presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao to name names of its official allegedly involved in corruption.

“As a public servant, the good senator has every right, legally and morally, to assail and put to question whatever wrongdoing, any person or instrumentality of the government for that matter in his quest to eradicate graft and corruption in the bureaucracy,” the agency said in a statement.

“Therefore, it is a moral duty for the good senator, being a candidate for the highest office in the land, to name names, or identify and not rely on generalities to put down the whole institution of the Department of Education,” it added.

In an interview in the KBP-COMELEC PiliPinas Forum 2022 aired on May 6, Pacquiao cited an irregularity involving one DepEd official, whom he refused to name.

“Diyan sa DepEd, may kakilala ako diyan. Hindi pumapayag na bumababa ng 40% ang mapunta sa kaniya" (I know someone in DepEd who refuses to receive less than 40%), he said.

However, the DepEd stressed that casting aspersions on the entire institution is “very dangerous” and might affect public impressions of the integrity of the upcoming electoral results.

“While there might still be bad eggs within the organization, the leadership of the Department has seen fit to charge these known implicated and remove those found guilty,” it said.

“To allege wrongdoing, unsupported by specific facts or without naming names, is tantamount to false accusation,” it added.

The Education department said more than 647,812 teaching and non-teaching DepEd personnel will render poll service on Monday, 9. —LBG, GMA News