Sen. Risa Hontiveros (INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO)
Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Friday reiterated the need to abolish the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) after its former and current officials were blamed for the purchase of overpriced laptops for teachers.
Hontiveros lauded the decision of the Senate blue ribbon committee, chaired by Sen. Francis Tolentino, to pursue criminal and administrative charges against Lloyd Christopher Lao, the controversial former PS-DBM officer in charge who was earlier linked to the alleged irregularities in the purchase of the government’s multibillion-peso pandemic supplies.
Besides Lao, PS-DBM officials Jaysonmer Uayan, Ulysses Mora and several other members of its bids and awards committee were also recommended to be charged.
“Moving forward, beyond the filing of charges, it is also important to plug the holes through which these anomalies passed,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“That’s why I have been calling for the abolition of PS-DBM. I will propose that [again] during the period of amendments when the [blue ribbon committee] report is deliberated in plenary,” she said. The opposition lawmaker said the government must ensure that public school teachers should be able to enjoy the benefits due them.
“Most of all, we need to do all we can to make sure that we are not shortchanging our teachers,” she said.
“Let’s reward their sacrifices by providing them with the tools they need to do their jobs well,” she added.
Raps recommended
In addition to the PS-DBM officials, the Senate anti-graft panel moved for the filing of charges against several Department of Education (DepEd) officials, among them Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla, former Undersecretary Alain Del Pascua, former Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III and information and communications technology director Abram Abanil.
After conducting five public hearings, the blue ribbon committee concluded that the laptops were overpriced by about P979 million as earlier discovered by the Commission on Audit.
“There 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 PS-DBM,” read a portion of the committee’s 195-page report.
“While they may seemingly act separately, concerted acts were evident to create an opportunity for favored bidders to submit bloated and excessive bids,” it said.