FILE PHOTO: Grade 3 teacher Edmund John Gambon checks the performance of a government-issued laptop at Apolonio Samson Elementary School in Quezon City in this photo taken on August 9, 2022. INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) presented a simulation test of two laptops on Thursday — one procured by the Department of Education (DepEd) and one with another brand but the same market price.
COA auditor Job Aguirre Jr. showed the simulation test during the Senate blue ribbon committee’s hearing, investigating the alleged overpriced yet outdated laptops procured by the DepEd through the Department of Budget and Management – Procurement Service.
The simulation test compared the Dell, which the DepEd purchased, and HP brands of the same market value.
The simulation test of booting up, opening the software, and shutting down showed that HP was faster than DepEd’s Dell.
“Just imagine if sabay-sabay ‘yung application. So, it confirms na talagang ‘yung reklamo ng mga teachers is talagang mabagal,” said Aguirre.
(Just imagine if the applications are simultaneously used. So, it confirms teachers’ complaints that the laptops are slow.)
Senator Francis Tolentino, the panel chairperson, said: “What you have shown here is the inferior status of the Dell compared with the HP with the similar price, different specs.”
Dell Country Manager Ronnie Latinazo, however, said that the simulation “might be misleading.”
“Here in the video, it might be misleading because you’re comparing an i5, which is even higher than what was bidded by ASI (Advance Solutions Inc.), compared to the Celeron. So, baka hindi (it may not be), sir, apples to apples,” Latinazo said, noting that no supplier offered an i5.
Meanwhile, ASI representative Fritzie Ventenilla claimed they had a lower bid than the winning supplier.
“‘Yung bid po ng Advanced Solutions ay P2,139,424,156.69, mas mababa po ng P167 million than the bid of the joint venture,” she told Tolentino.
(The bid of Advanced Solutions is P2,139,424,156.69, lower by P167 million than the joint venture’s bid.)
Ventenilla likewise said that the laptop units they offered are faster.
The Senate blue ribbon committee terminated its investigation on the matter after five rounds of hearings. —With reports from Kristelle Razon, trainee