DepEd continues to hold up its end of the laptop deal, saying the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) PS-DBM is responsible for the agreement. Moreover, former DepEd secretary Leonor Briones added that declaring the overpriced laptop deal anomalous is not right without a final report from COA.
According to the Department of Education, the controversial outdated and overpriced laptops it issued last year may be replaced.
Teacher representative France Castro called out the controversial DepEd laptop deal, which initially cost ₱35,046.50 per unit and ballooned to ₱58,300 per the recommendation of PS-DBM. Accordingly, instead of the 68,500 laptops that were originally planned, only 39,583 laptops were acquired as a result of this deal.
Briones also stated that her only involvement was the signing of the MOA between the PS-DBM and DepEd and that the former “had full control over the procurement, including pricing and item specifications.”
The Department of Education has also expressed the need to resolve issues regarding laptop complaints before the start of classes on August 2022.
According to Poa, the flagged laptops, costing ₱58,300 each, were purchased under Bayanihan 2 to assist teachers with transitioning to distance learning.
PS-DBM is responsible for procuring the laptops, according to the spokesperson. Therefore, COA is awaiting PS-DBM’s explanation of the laptops’ prices and quality.
To aid legislation, representatives of the Makabayon Bloc are investigating the controversial laptop purchase, and the education department is willing to cooperate with the investigation.
