The principal of Bretman Rock’s former elementary school in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan, addressed allegations that the money donated by the Filipino-American content creator was nearly pocketed.
Adelino Pacris, the school head, addressed the allegations against him, saying he has “no intention of pocketing” donations from the pupils of Sanchez Mira West Central Elementary School.
“With all due respect and humility, I never had any inkling of intention to ‘pocket’ this huge amount remitted to my account,” he said in a Facebook statement.
@bretmanrock The way my mom travels to the 🇵🇭 more than I travel to the gym… it’s a statement🤟🏽. And a sign! We’re using @Remitly to send donations back to my childhood school. It’s safe, it’s fast, and it’s the right thing to do. Be a legend that gives back! ✨ #RemitlyAmbassador ♬ original sound – bretmanrock
In the podcast, Bretman shared with Miss Kaaaye that he sent the money directly to the principal.
The vlogger, who has a cousin teaching at the school, later learned that the principal was “being hush-hush and being petty about it.”
Bretman said that many people at the school were asking about the donation.
“They thought he was like, trying to pocket the money… and someone DM’d me about it, like, ‘Hey, we don’t really trust the principal. He hasn’t brought it up to any of the faculties.’ And even his thank you message to me was so, so weird,” he recounted.
“Like, I did not just trust the man, who the principal was. And my mom got involved. She texted our cousin, the teacher, like, ‘I need to talk to the principal right now,'” Bretman added.
“Then, she got it all together and she was like, ‘You’re not about to take my son’s money. I’m not kidding… I need everything in writing, I need every receipt, I need to know every single penny that he donated went to the school and not in your pockets,'” he continued.
Bretman said that the principal “got scared” of his mother and went to the school treasurer.
“Now, we have in writing every single thing they’re gonna do for the money,” he shared.
The moment caught the attention of some Filipinos, who shared it on Facebook and in Reddit communities such as “r/Philippines” and “r/ChikaPH.”
“Nakakahiya,” a Facebook user commented.
“Hindi lang mga politiko ang corrupt,” another wrote.
“Grassroot program ng corruption, ahaha,” a different Pinoy commented.
“Kulang na sa Pinoy ang integrity at honesty,” another saidf.
“Grabe corruption, pati sa schools. Nakakalungkot,” a different user commented.
Principal Pacris, however, explained that there was no corruption, saying that the huge amount remitted to his account was offered not personally by Bretman, but “by a team who acted for him.”
“I was cautious, considering that I may fall prey into a scam. So 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 [an] expert on the matter and it contained provisions that I understand but I was afraid I could not correctly comprehend,” Pacris said.
“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. Also, I reached out to a faculty member, related to the family of the former pupil by affinity, to confirm with the pupil’s mother whether or not the donation was true. The mother answered in the negative but told her that she will ask her child,” he added.
“It took weeks before they confirmed that the donation was indeed true and informed us that the money had been sent to my account,” Pacris said.
The principal acknowledged that the donation was remitted to his account.
“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. We took the necessary steps to discuss as to what project will be implemented that will be funded by the donation,” Pacris clarified.
Furthermore, he said he sought assistance from the Engineering Office of the local government unit of Sanchez Mira when they established the need for the school. He cited that they planned to use the cash donation for the continuation of a classroom and potential additional classrooms.
The principal said the amount was turned over to the 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 Php 555,000 was withdrawn from my account and I turned over said money to the Treasurer of the PTA. I have proof to support my claims,” Pacris said.
Given this, the principal said he wishes to clear his name for his family.
“I want to clear my name as it has affected not only me and my reputation, but most importantly, my children and my wife. Again, my conscience is clean. The money was never mine to begin with,” he said.
“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,” the principal said.
Bretman’s roots
Bretman spent part of his childhood in the Philippines before his mother took him to Hawaii when he was seven.
Despite immigrating to another country, he has maintained close ties to his Filipino roots by occasionally visiting the country, proudly wearing a “bahag“, and speaking up on some of the country’s national issues.
