Vice President Sara Duterte | PHOTO: Official Facebook apge of Inday Sara Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — Former Education Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil Mercado has claimed that Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief-of-staff asked her to resign after she raised several concerns regarding the procurement for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) computerization program.
During the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability on Wednesday, Mercado said Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez asked her to resign after she opposed suggestions from former Education Assistant Secretary Reynold Munsayac that bidders should just “discuss among themselves” the fate of the bidding.
Duterte was the DepEd chief at the time.
“Sometime in October 2023, as the likelihood of a bidding failure for DepEd computerization had become apparent, I was approached, sorry, by Attorney Munsayac and he suggested in the presence of other officials who were with me that the bidders should just discuss among themselves. Mag-usap usap na lang para hindi masayang ang pera ng 2023 (they will just discuss among themselves so that the funds for 2023 will be wasted),” Mercado said.
“I firmly asserted that the procurement must be implemented and conducted in strict adherence to the rules. Sometime in the 3rd or 4th week of October, I was summoned by Ms. Zuleika Lopez, the chief-of-staff to the Vice President and Undersecretary of the OVP. I was informed that I should tender my resignation effective that day,” she added.
According to Mercado, she “refused to resign” and she insisted on leaving DepEd by voluntary retirement.
She also said she felt she was being asked to resign after maintaining that procurement must go on.
Mercado also claimed other DepEd officials were asked to resign, too.
“The timing of my meeting with Ms. Zuleika struck me as more than coincidental. It gave me the impression that my candid responses were the real reason behind the push to relieve me of my office,” she said.
“It was as if I had become an unwelcome obstacle, despite simply doing my job as hope and undersecretary of DepEd. Prior to my meeting with Ms. Zuleika, there were other undersecretaries and assistant secretaries who were also summoned, all with the same purpose of informing them that they should tender their resignation effective on the same day,” she added.
As of posting time, Mercado did not clarify what particular issue hounded DepEd’s computerization program, but it could be remembered that lawmakers last September 2 called out the agency’s past administration for its inability to deliver laptops and other technical equipment in 2023, which resulted in low utilization of its budget.
INQUIRER.net has asked the OVP for their reaction to Mercado’s allegations, but it has not issued any response as of posting time.
READ: OVP’s flagged funds breached plunder threshold – lawmaker
During the deliberations on DepEd’s proposed budget for 2025, Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Lusistro asked education officials if a Commission on Audit (COA) report on low budget utilization was correct, particularly the DepEd’s Computerization Program (DCP).
The COA observation came when Duterte was DepEd chief.
DepEd Director Ferdinand Pitagan confirmed that only P2.18 billion out of P11.36-billion fund for computers, laptops, and smart television sets was spent.
Appropriations panel senior vice chair and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo then noted that it was impossible for DepEd to claim that 44,638 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) packages were delivered as of now since the COA called out the department for low budget utilization.
Pitagan said that 44,638 ICT packages were reached by combining 2023 and 2024 figures.
However, Quimbo said Pitagan was referring to procured ICT packages and not equipment delivered to schools across the country.
Luistro, on the other hand, blamed the low delivery rate of ICT packages as a factor for the Philippines’ poor performance at the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa).
The education sector has faced several problems with regard to the provision of quality education.
In December 2023, Pisa said Filipino students who took part in their assessment were five to six years behind in mathematics, science, and reading compared to their 15-year-old counterparts from most of the participating countries.