The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has concluded its hearing of the overpriced procurement of laptops by the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2021. The committee found that the contract for the laptop for public school teachers was overpriced by at least PHP 979 million.
The investigation opened in August 2022 after the agency purchased “outdated” and what seemed to be overpriced laptops through PS-DBM.
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Recommendations on DepEd and PS-DBM
The panel recommended the recovery of the PHP 979 million “as proceeds of corruption”. The recovered money was also suggested to then be placed in a special National Teachers Trust Fund to support the needs of public school teachers and of their children via a special scholarship program.
The committee also proposed the filing of administrative and criminal cases against executives of the Education department and the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) involved in the procurement process.
Among these include:
One count of violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act
- Former DepEd Undersecretary Alain del Pascua
- DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla
- Former DepEd Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III
- DepEd Director Abram Abanil
- Former PS-DBM officer-in-charge (OIC) Executive Director Lloyd Christopher Lao
- Former OIC Executive Director Jasonmer Uayan
- PS-DBM Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Chairman Ulysses Mora and other members of the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) I and SBAC technical working group (TWG) and secretariat, whether from DepEd or PS-DBM
- PS-DBM Engineer Marwan Amil
- Principals, representatives, and/or agents of the Joint Venture consortium partners, or other private parties, who may have colluded and/or conspired, as supported by competent evidence, with the aforementioned officials
One count of violation of Section 3(g) of RA 3019
- Former DepEd Undersecretary Alain del Pascua
- DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla
- Former Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III
- Former PS-DBM OIC Executive Director Lloyd Christopher Lao
- Former PS-DBM OIC Executive Director Jasonmer Uayan
- PS-DBM BAC Chairman Ulysses Mora and other
members of the SBAC I and SBAC TWG and secretariat, whether from Deped or PS-DBM - principals, representatives, and/or agents of the Joint Venture consortium partners, or other private parties, who may have colluded and/or conspired, as supported by competent evidence, with the aforementioned officials
To name a few.
The panel also recommended administrative and disciplinary investigations for multiple counts of Grave Misconduct, Serious Dishonesty, Gross Neglect of Duty, and Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service against the officials of both government agencies mentioned in the report.
The Blue Ribbon Panel committee suggested making amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act to provide transparency and accountability requirements for joint venture entities or arrangements participating in public biddings.
DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said the agency will cooperate with any proceedings and it is willing to provide documentation as needed. Additionally, he said that the agency will also “seriously consider” the findings and recommendations.
“We will definitely consider those recommendations and findings so that we can also strengthen our internal controls in terms of procurement in DepEd,” Poa said in his statement.
You can read the full statement from the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee here.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
