Senate panel recommends recovery of P979M in overpriced DepEd laptops

—INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has recommended the recovery of P979 million in the overpriced procurement of laptops for public school teachers.

It also recommended the filing of administrative and criminal cases against executives of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) who were involved in the laptop procurement mess.

In a press conference, the committee secretary read its findings and recommendations on the issue after five rounds of hearings.

“Recovery of the overpriced in the amount of at least P979 million as proceeds of corruption and the amount actually recovered to be placed in a special national teachers trust fund to support the health and medical needs of public school teachers and the educational needs of their children through a special scholarship program,” the committee secretary said.

Recommended to be filed by the panel against the involved incumbent and former DepEd and PS-DBM officials are:

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 said officials

One count for violation of Section 3(g) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act

• 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 said officials

One count of Falsification of Public Document by a Public Official, defined and penalized under Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code

• DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla
• Former DepEd Executive Assistant Alec Ladanga

One count for violation of Section 3(a) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act

• DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla
• Former DepEd Executive Assistant Alec Ladanga

Multiple counts of perjury, defined and penalized under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Republic Act No. 11594

• DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla
• Former DepEd Undersecretary Alain del Pascua
• Former DepEd Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III
• Former PS-DBM OIC Executive Director Lloyd Christopher Lao
• Former PS-DBM OIC Executive Director Jasonmer Uayan

The panel also proposed that administrative and disciplinary probe for multiple counts of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service be launched against the said senior officials of the two agencies involved.

It also pushed the Commission on Audit (COA) to issue notices of disallowance against Sevilla, Pascua, and Malana for the P979 million in overprice in the procurement of the laptops.

The committee also suggested that civil complaints be initiated to recover the P979 million from Sevilla, Pascua, Malana, Lao, Uayan, and other DepEd and PS-DBM officials “that may be shown by competent evidence to be responsible for government funds or uses of government property in violation of law and relevant regulations.”

Further, the Blue Ribbon Committee recommended that Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act be amended to provide for transparency and accountability requirements for joint venture entities, and safeguards during the planning and pre-bidding stages of procurement.

It also suggested a special fraud audit by the COA, an investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council on overpriced procurement, and a special tax compliance audit or tax fraud audit inquiry by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The panel also proposed to abolish the PS-DBM and require government departments, agencies, offices, instrumentalities “to conduct their own procurement as an exercise of their fiduciary duty to be accountable for public funds appropriated for their respective offices.”

According to the panel’s findings, “[t]here is sufficient basis to believe that there was a conspiracy to facilitate and/or generate an overprice which indicates manifest partiality, evident bad faith, and/or gross inexcusable neglect on the part of senior officials and staff of the DepEd and the PS-DBM. While they may seemingly act separately, concerted acts were evident to create an opportunity for favored bidders to submit bloated and excessive bids leading to an overprice in the purchase of the laptops.”

DepEd’s repeated change in the use and allocation of the P2.4 billion — from tablets to mobile connectivity loads for students to laptops for teachers — is “highly arbitrary, unjustified, improper, and not beneficial” to both teachers and learners, the report stated.

The panel found the memorandum of agreement entered by DepEd and PS-DBM as antedated, making the laptop purchase “irregular and questionable.”

The COA earlier flagged DepEd’s laptop procurement through the PS-DBM as “overpriced and outdated.”

The COA said the overpriced procurement “adversely decreased the number of intended beneficiaries from 68,500 to 39,583 public school teachers.”

It was also revealed that the more expensive laptops even had an obsolete processor, making the unit slow.

The COA’s report prompted the Senate to commence deliberations on the issue.

/MUF/abc