TEACHERS’ BLUES Makati City public school teachers conduct online classes during school opening last year. The purchase of laptops being used by other teachers are now being questioned. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — A Department of Education (DepEd) official on Wednesday said they were validating reports about the DepEd’s allegedly “questionable” procurement of 39,000 laptops for public school teachers after a lawmaker called for an investigation, citing a violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act during the bidding process.
However, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla pointed out that since the transaction was carried out by the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS), the issue should be clarified with the DepEd representative assigned at the agency.
“The procurement is not implemented by the DepEd, but by [the DBM-PS]. We transferred the funds to the DBM-PS and assigned them to undertake the procurement for us,” Sevilla told the Inquirer in a text message.
Earlier, House Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera Dy called for an investigation, saying she received information “that the contract [had] practically [been] secured by the second lowest bidder at almost P2.3 billion, which is P167 million higher than the bid of the lowest bidder.”
According to Dy, this was in violation of Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Price difference
The price difference, she added, was due to the laptop bag and not the laptop itself.
“Why [did] the laptop bag—and not the specifications of the computer—become the basis in awarding the contract for purchasing laptop computers for our public school teachers?” she asked.
The lowest bidder, she said, got a postdisqualification notice for allegedly not complying with the requirements, including the required specification for the bag. The requirement was ballistic nylon, but the lowest bidder submitted as sample a bag made from 100-percent polyester.
“Just because of a bag?” Dy asked as she urged Congress to take action “to prevent the government from getting shortchanged in procurement projects using people’s money.”
Sevilla, however, clarified that the budget for the procurement of laptops was sourced from the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act (Bayanihan 2) fund, adding that the DepEd “had no capacity to do the procurement in a faster and full-time mode because this is bulk procurement.”
“The Bayanihan 2 fund is not included in the annual plan of the DepEd; it is an additional fund that came in November 2020. The DepEd is not prepared to conduct procurement for this. Hence, we transferred it to the DBM-PS,” she said.
Primary jurisdiction
Under Bayanihan 2, the government’s second stimulus package to cushion the impact of COVID-19, P4.3 billion worth of financial assistance was allocated to the DepEd.
Sevilla said that while the required specification for the laptops was set by the DepEd, the evaluation, inspection and procurement process was still under the DBM-PS.
“Matters concerning the procurement process would be best addressed by the DBM-PS, especially because mechanisms in addressing bidders’ grievances or challenges are lodged with the said procuring agency, which has primary jurisdiction over bidding issues,” she said.
“We trust that the DBM-PS is able to address these issues, owing to its mandate and long-recognized expertise in procurement,” she added.
In May, the DepEd said it would buy laptops for about 68,500 personnel with the continued implementation of distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic.