Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Prospero De Vera III is facing complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman concerning the alleged unreleased fund for the allowances of student scholars.

Based on the affidavit-complaint obtained by RH Val Gonzales, Agapito Lubaton raised that De Vera failed to pay students their P20,000 allowances per semester under the Unified Student Financial Assistant System for Tertiary Education (UniFAST) mandated by Republic Act 10931 or Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.

The said payment of UniFASt has been deferred since the Academic Year 2022-2023.

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"I was also told that there was no UniFAST budget and I must coordinate with our Regional Director in our place. Additionally, Mr. De Vera utterly failed to provide and give preferential attention and prompt action on the 2-year delay in the payment of UniFASt for no apparent and valid reason. Upon being confronted, he would always reason out that there was no budget allocation, therefore," Lubaton said.

He claimed that the number of students dropping out of school rose "due to financial hardship" and schools and educational institutions "suffered from various problems, such as providing financial sustenance for its operation."

The CHED chairman is facing complaints of negligence of duties and responsibilities as a public official; ease of doing business violation; grave abuse of power and authority; moral injury caused to hopeful students and educational institutions; and non-payment for grantees/student scholars for SY. 2021-2022.