The procurement of allegedly expensive and out-of-date computers through the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (PS-DBM) in 2021 has been the subject of an investigation, according to Vice President and Secretary of Education Sara Duterte, the DepEd announced on Monday.
During a news conference, DepEd Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said that the department had made a fraud audit petition to the Commission on Audit over the laptop issue on Monday, August 15.
DepEd was accused of spending P2.4 billion on laptops through the PS-DBM even though there were supposedly cheaper and superior options available in the market by COA in its 2021 audit report.
“Isa sa pinaka-importanteng proseso ng pag-procure ay ‘yung tinatawag nating market scanning. Ibig sabihin nito, kapag nagpo-procure ka, bago bumili, kailangan ang ahensya, in this case, PS-DBM, kailangan nagtatanong sa merkado kung magkano ba itong laptop na ito na ganito ang specification. Nung bumalik sila sa Technical Working Group, inilabas itong presyo na P58,000,” Densing said.
“The reason why we’re asking COA for a fraud audit is the reason why it was downgraded from 1.9 gigahertz to 1.8 gigahertz, and at the same time tumaas din ‘yung presyo [why the price increased], and why is it IntelCeleron because we were very specific in the specifications of the laptop,” he added.
DepEd chief Sara Duterte orders probe on ‘outdated, pricey’ laptops
He emphasized that unless the PS-DBM responded to the claims, the DepEd would not be able to determine if there had been an irregularity in the laptop acquisition.
“Nung nalaman namin ‘yan, nakakaramdam din kami ng galit kung sakaling totoo ‘yan at ayaw namin itong mangyari. Kaya ang direktiba sa’min ni Secretary Sara na paimbestigahan niyo na ‘yan para makita kung may iba pang kalokohan o wala,” Densing said.
In response to the uproar, Densing declared that moving forward, the DepEd would make materials purchases through its own Procurement Service Team.
Last Wednesday, DepEd spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa stated that there were two ways to handle the problem: either internally analyzes the laptops and make a “rapid remedy” so they could be utilized right away, or pursue legal remedies.
Poa stated that they would take into account using the warranty clause in the agreement with the laptop provider if it turned out that the computers were not up to par with DepEd’s standards.
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