DepEd passes the buck to DBM over ‘pricey’ laptops
MANILA, Philippines — Even though it approved the purchase of entry-level laptops for public school teachers that the Commission on Audit later flagged to be “pricey,” the Department of Education said Saturday the Department of Budget and Management’s procurement service should be the one to answer questions on the issue.
“The question on the price of the laptops can best be answered by the procurement service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) as the procuring entity for the units. The [education] department only received laptops from PS-DBM,” the DepEd said in a statement.
The DepEd also said that it is “taking steps” to address the recommendations of the COA, including on the procurement of laptops for teachers.
State auditors called out DepEd’s central office for its purchase of 39,583 laptops for public school teachers, through the PS-DBM, amounting to P2.4 billion, saying these were “pricey” for an entry-level laptop.
The COA said the estimated cost of each laptop increased to from P35,046.50, which was the DepEd’s original request, to P58,300, that was anchored on the PS-DBM’s recommendation eventually accepted by the DepEd.
“The huge difference of P23,253.50 per unit price resulted in significant decrease by 28,917 laptop computers, purportedly for distribution to intended recipient-teachers which could have helped them in performing their tasks in the blended learning set-up. Consequently, an estimated 28,917 teachers were deprived of the possible benefits from the supposed provision of these laptops,” COA said.
The laptops in question were also said to have “outdated” Intel Celeron processors and were apparently “too slow” for online learning.
The last time the PS-DBM landed in headlines was during the Senate’s investigation into the multi-billion peso purchase of pandemic supplies by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, which concluded with a recommendation to file complaints against the former president himself and other budget officials. — Xave Gregorio with reports from The STAR/Elizabeth Marcelo/The STAR and Interaksyon/Catalina Ricci S. Madarang
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