(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) DepEd issued the statement following reports of teachers allegedly buying ready-made research for promotion and funding as pointed out by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian. Under the leadership of Secretary Leonor Briones, DepEd said it “puts premium to the power of research in supporting policy decisions.” Thus, it assured that “any fraud or any form of ethical infringement of research within DepEd will not be tolerated.” DepEd explained that the Research Management Guidelines (RMG) — issued as Department Order No. 16, s. 2017 — has established research committees across governance levels such as the the National Research Committee (NRC), Regional Research Committee (RRC), and the Schools Division Research Committee (SDRC). Its Section V.A, DepEd added, “outlines the composition of the committee members and their role and responsibilities.”