DepEd creates panel to look into maternity leave rip-o

CAN a woman give birth 11 times in three years?

Dumbfounded by this report, the Department of Education (DepEd) decided to create a fact-finding committee to look into an apparent irregularity involving a teacher who allegedly filed a total of 11 maternity leaves in just three years.

However, the teacher implicated in the anomaly categorically denied the allegation, saying she never filed for maternity leave because she has no children.

DepEd spokesman Atty. Michael Poa said the fact-finding committee will be composed of officers from DepEd regional offices, not schools division offices, to maintain impartiality of the investigation.

Poa said the panel will check the records on the alleged filing of the maternity leaves to determine if the teachers involved were really pregnant and had given birth at the time.

He urged a whistleblower and other individuals who may know about the scam to forward and give their statement.

“We want to know if this is an isolated case, or if it is widespread,” Poa said.

DepEd-TAPAT Curriculum Implementation Division chief Dr. Ellery Quintia on Thursday showed documents wherein one teacher received money ranging from P35,000 to P61,000 from 2016 to 2019 as she filed multiple maternity leaves during the three-year period.

Under the Expanded Maternity Leave Law enacted in 2019, female workers in the public sector, including public school teachers, would be granted maternity leave of 105 days with full pay,” and maternity leave of 60 days with full pay for miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy.

“Good as cash ito. Kung titingnan mo ito, cash na ito na ibababa sa account ni teacher... Hindi ko naman siya kinausap tungkol dito. Maaaring hindi nga siya aware kung ano iyong nangyari at nanganak siya ng 11 beses sa loob ng tatlong taon... Maaaring si teacher, biktima rin. Ginamit din... Ito ay conspiracy ng mga nasa itaas,” Quintia said.