MANILA, Philippines (Updated 11:35 a.m.) — More than 1.5 million Department of Education items, including laptops, books, and classroom furniture, have been sitting in warehouses undelivered since 2020, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Monday.
During the House appropriations committee's deliberations of DepEd's proposed P793-billion budget for 2025, Angara bared that he was surprised to learn of the stockpiled equipment upon being briefed.
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"I was surprised to find out that the equipment there has already been four years old, since they have been there since 2020," Angara said in a mix of English and Filipino.
"So, we contacted the Air Force and others to help us remove them... We're doing our best to get them out so that the materials don't deteriorate," the DepEd chief said, adding that they aim to get the items out by end-September.
Angara took over the department in July. He succeeded Vice President Sara Duterte who stepped down from the office she occupied since 2022. Leonor Briones served as secretary from 2016 to 2022 under Duterte's father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Angara told lawmakers about the undelivered items upon being asked by Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers party-list) about the status of the department's computerization program.
Castro asked DepEd for an update after the Commission on Audit (COA) highlighted delays, non-delivery and inefficiencies in the program in its 2023 report on the agency.
Omar Romero, DepEd's undersecretary for legal affairs, said 90% of the goods remaining in the department's third-party logistics partner have been pulled out and being prepared for distribution by the regional and school district offices.
The value of digital devices like laptops typically decreases by about 5% per month, according to IT experts. This means they are commonly depreciated beyond their useful life after three years.
Inefficiencies
DepEd's computerization program — which aims to provide all public schools with complete computer packages — has been repeatedly flagged by state auditors over the years due to its inefficient implementation.
According to COA's audit report of DepEd in 2019, only 8,523 out of the 14,342 targeted schools received ICT packages under the computerization program from 2015 to 2019. State auditors said this was caused by inefficiencies in the procurement process and logistical challenges, including supplier delays and some schools' unreadiness to receive and store the materials.
Besides facing problems with the timely delivery of computer packages, the department is also not procuring equipment fast enough despite having the funds for it.
On Monday, Rep. Jinky Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District) pointed out that DepEd only spent P2.75 billion out of the P11 billion that was allocated for its computerization program in 2023, based on state auditors' documents.
In contrast, Rep. Stella Quimbo (Marikina City) said the department had rapidly spent P112.5 million of its confidential funds in 2023 with an efficiency rate of 143%.
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Erratum: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Rep. Quimbo cited a P125-million expenditure of confidential funds in 2023. The correct figure is P112.5 million.