Briones should also be charged after P979 million laptop deal, says solon

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker said on Saturday that former education chief Leonor Briones should also face administrative and criminal charges following the results of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s probe into the procurement of overpriced laptops for teachers.

The committee recommended the filing of cases against officials from the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Budget and Management who were involved in the P979 million laptop deal.

READ: Senate panel recommends recovery of P979M in overpriced DepEd laptops

“Though we welcome the Senate committee report on this issue, we believe that former DepEd [Secretary] Leonor Briones should also be charged for signing a pro forma Memorandum of Agreement without even reading it,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers partylist Representative France Castro in a statement.

The committee’s panel chairman Senator Francis Tolentino previously said that Briones was admonished for her involvement but was not legally liable in the deal. The committee’s report found that she “may have unwittingly approved” conditions that paved the way for the purchasing of laptops.

“This is gross neglect of duty costing billions of taxpayers’ money and another burden for teachers,” said Castro.

According to Castro, the senators can do more to assist the teachers who were affected by the laptop deal.

“Senators can themselves file charges against these officials so that they know that the Senate is serious in stamping out corruption. If senators do not want to file charges then they can at least assist the teachers who want to do so,” said the lawmaker.

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