INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — All learning resources supposedly “held hostage” by a service supplier might be overhauled and delivered to public schools in the next few weeks, the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Friday.
DepEd’s assurance comes after lawmakers from the House of Representatives sought a congressional inquiry into billions worth of learning materials undistributed by Las Piñas-based firm Transpac Cargo Logistics Inc. due to supposed unsettled warehousing fees.
“DepEd has started hauling various learning resources from Transpac Logistics warehouses for distribution to public schools nationwide,” the agency said in a statement.
“Since the present Administration assumed office, continuous efforts were made to either compel delivery of the goods as required by contract, or for DepEd to be allowed to pull out and haul the learning resources from the warehouses — to no avail. Thus, in the exercise of diligence, and in the interest of recovering the goods by all means necessary, DepEd was constrained to resort to legal remedies,” it added.
According to DepEd, they partially terminated their contract with Transpac on August 30 due to its failure to deliver materials on time and the lack of a concrete solution to the issue. DepEd added that on November 22, they instituted legal proceedings before the Regional Trial Court to recover learning materials that are still in Transpac’s possession.
“In the first week of December 2023, the DepEd was in receipt of a letter from Transpac suddenly informing DepEd that it may now haul the goods stored in its warehouses. Therefore, our Regional and Division offices have immediately started hauling the goods. The DepEd aims to completely haul and deliver the goods to our public schools in the next few weeks,” the agency highlighted.
DepEd then said the issue is not just a “simple case of unpaid warehouse fees,” adding that it has been “inaccurately framed” and erroneously perceived by some.
The agency claimed that payment to providers should only be made upon fulfilling obligations as required by accounting and auditing standards for the proper distribution of funds.