SENATOR Risa Hontiveros on Thursday urged Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero De Vera III to explain CHED’s ghost scholars before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and not the media.

“The chair should make his case before the Blue Ribbon, not before the media. The complaints of ghost scholars came from reports of students who have been writing to us,” Hontiveros said.

She stressed that the resolution she earlier filed which calls for a Senate inquiry of the irregularities surrounding Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education (Unifast) might have opened a can of worms as her office continues to receive complaints.

“We get more complaints. This, combined with adverse findings by COA (Commission on Audit), appears to show a pattern of multiple irregularities regarding UNIFAST,” she said.

The senator added that CHED should work on restoring that trust rather than dismissing the reports that her office receives.

“Walang humpay ang dating ng mga reklamo. Nakakalungkot dahil ang nararamdaman nila ay wala silang ibang masandalan at mapagakatiwalaan… daan-daan ang estudyante na ang nagrereklamo kaya para sa akin, panahon na para sa isang pormal na pagdinig, imbes na sa media nagtatanungan ng mga ebidensya. For the sake of our students, kailangan himayin,” she added.