NGO keeps eye on Mindanao school furniture procurement

MANILA, Philippines—Aiming to ensure timely delivery of school furniture this school year, a civil society group has launched an initiative to watch over the procurement and delivery of school armchairs and desks across Mindanao as the Department of Education vows to fully address this shortage by the coming school year.

Bantay Eskuwela, an initiative of non-profit Procurement Watch Inc., will debut in 185 schools across Mindanao, tapping communities to monitor prompt delivery of school chairs by DepEd and its contractors.

DepEd said the program, which was first implemented in Metro Manila in 2009, would be launched in schools across Samal Island, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Compostela Valley.

This expands the program outside its pilot sites, including Bulacan, Tagbilaran City, Ilocos Norte, Quezon City and Rizal province, DepEd said.  The program was initially implemented through the Australian Agency for International Development.

“We are very pleased with the assistance provided by private and civil society organizations in ensuring that our schools get their much needed resources in good quality and on time,” said Education Secretary Armin Luistro in a statement.

“This is a critical measure and one that we cannot do on our own as we continue to fill up resource gaps in the public school system,” he added.

Under the program, Bantay Eskuwela would work with DepEd in monitoring whether contractors make their deliveries “at the right time, with the right quantity and of the right quality based on DepEd specifications.”

“This new initiative will highlight the importance and success of using school-based monitors in achieving value for money and transparency using a participatory approach by monitoring the procurement of school armchairs and also school buildings,” DepEd said.

Bantay Eskuwela aims to enlist the help of at least 250 volunteers from target sites in the monitoring effort.

“Even if I don’t have money, I give my time to Bantay Eskwela. We can’t count on government to do everything. It doesn’t have enough money or people. We have to help,” said long-time Bantay Eskuwela volunteer Yoyong Villegas in a statement.