School head denies claim he nearly pocketed Bretman Rock's half-a-million-peso donation

The head of Bretman Rock's former school in Cagayan shut down the allegation that he almost pocketed the social media star's half-a-million donation.

In an episode of her podcast Da Baddest Radio that aired last week, Rock shared with her frequent co-host Miss Kaaaye an incident involving a donation worth hundreds of thousands of pesos she made to her former school.

According to the influencer, she donated "half a million pesos" to the school, but was hit with doubts as to where the money went. 

"Apparently, because I sent it directly to the principal, the principal was being hush-hush and being petty about it. And a lot of the associates, some of the teachers and the treasurers were like, 'Where's the money? Why aren't you telling us about it?' They thought that he was trying to pocket the money," she said. 

"Somebody had DM-ed me about it, being like, 'Hey, we don't really trust the principal. He hasn't brought it up to any of the faculty. And even his 'Thank you' message to me was so, so weird," she continued. "I just did not trust the man who the principal was."

Rock added that her mother Mercedita got involved and spoke to his cousin, who was a teacher at the school, and asked to talk to the principal. 

"[My mom] was like, 'You're not about to take my son's money and pocket it and think it's not gonna go to the school," she said. 

After allegedly demanding receipts and every transaction put in writing, Rock said the money "went to the treasurer. And now we have it in writing, every single thing that they're gonna do with the money."

School head responds to the claim

Adelino Mahumot Pacris, the Sanchez Mira Central Elementary School principal that Rock was allegedly talking about, released a statement on Facebook on Feb. 4 denying the claims against him without identifying Rock by name. 

"This is to address the issue being raised against me for supposedly having the intention to 'pocket' a donation generously given by one of the former pupils of our school, Sanchez Mira Central Elementary School, in the total amount of PhP555,000," Pacris began. 

"With all due respect and humility, I never had any inkling of intention to 'pocket' this huge amount remitted to my account," he said. 

Pacris clarified that the donation was offered by Rock's team and not the influencer himself. Because he was initially cautious, worried that it was a scam, he sought advice from a lawyer. 

"When a document was sent to me by this person with denomination, 'Release and Agreement,' I sought the advise of a lawyer since I was not expert on the matter and it contained provisions that I understand but I was afraid I could not correctly comprehend. It took me a week or more before I signed it after fully understanding the contents of said document and consequences I may face if I violate any of the provisions therein," Pacris continued. 

He recalled reaching out to a faculty member related to Rock to confirm if the donation was genuine. 

"The mother answered in the negative but told [the faculty member] that she will ask her child. It took weeks before they confirmed that the donation was indeed true and informed us that the money had been sent to my account," said Pacris. 

"The money was remitted to my account, that’s true. But it is not true that I chose not to publicly disclose its existence. I informed members of my faculty about it with the information that they cannot disclose it just yet," he said. 

According to Pacris, he and the members of the faculty determined they would use the money to continue the construction of a classroom. They then coordinated with the Engineering office of the Sanchez Mira local government unit for the preparation of the Program of Works, which is a detailed master plan of a project, set against a timeline. 

"When the [project proposal] was already ready, the amount was turned over it to the PTA (Parent Teacher Association) for its implementation, only to be informed that the classroom project will not push through. Instead a different project has been decided upon. Thereafter, the total amount of Php555,000 was withdrawn from my account and I turned over said money to the Treasurer of the PTA. I have proof to support my claims," said Pacris. 

The school head said he released the statement to clear his name, as the issue has begun to affect not only him and his reputation but also his wife and children. 

"The money was never mine to begin with. As school head, I would never do such a thing. Since I have been assigned to my present school, I thought of nothing else but to better the school, to promote and encourage the PTA to implement projects that would benefit the pupils and the school in general," he said. 

Pacris also reported that the agreed-upon project, a district first, has been fully implemented. 

"With this, I sincerely hope and request everyone to stop spreading false information. And I pray that God will help me and my family overcome this trial as it has gotten out of control," Pacris concluded. 

Rock has yet to comment on Pacris' statement as of writing.