MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of government officials pending an investigation into the procurement of “outdated and overpriced” laptops for public teachers.
In a resolution, Ombudsman Samuel Martires ordered the preventive suspension of the following:
- Annalyn Sevilla, Department of Education undersecretary for finance
- Alain Del Pascua, DepEd undersecretary for administration and procurement
- Lloyd Christopher Lao, former Department of Budget and Management undersecretary and executive director of DBM-Procurement Service
- Salvador Malana III, DepEd assistant secretary for administration and procurement
- Abram Abanil, director of DepEd information and communications technology services and designated ad hoc member of the special bids and awards committee 1 for the “Laptop for Teachers” project
- Jasonmer Uayan, former director and officer-in-charge of PS-DBM
- Ulysses Mora, procurement management officer of PS-DBM
- Marwin Amil, procurement management officer of PS-DBM
- Alec Ladanga, executive assistant at Sevilla’s office
- Marcelo Bragado, director of DepEd procurement management service
- Selwyn Briones, supervising administrative officer of DepEd
- Paul Armand Estrada, procurement management officer of PS-DBM
They will be under preventive suspension until the administrative adjudication on the case is terminated, for a maximum of six months. The Ombudsman said they will not receive pay during this time, “except when the delay in the disposition of the case is due to their fault, negligence or petition.”
In a statement, the education department said it “adheres to due process and shall abide by the said order. Of the high-ranking DepEd officials who were suspended, only Sevilla remains with the agency.
In 2022, the Commission on Audit flagged DepEd over the purchase of P2.4 billion worth of expensive entry-level laptops for public school teachers.
According to state auditors, the estimated cost of each laptop increased to P58,300 from P35,046.50, which was the original request of the DepEd. The final price was anchored on the recommendation of the PS-DBM and accepted by the DepEd.
The laptops were also said to have “outdated” Intel Celeron processors and were apparently “too slow” for online learning. — with reports from Janvic Mateo