DepEd bumili ng P2.4 bilyong halaga ng ‘pricey, outdated’ laptops para sa mga guro noong 2021

BUMILI ang Department of Education (DepEd) ng  P2.4 bilyong halaga ng  “outdated at  pricey laptops” para sa mga guro para sa implementasyon ng  distance learning sa gitna ng  COVID-19 pandemic.

Sa  annual audit report ng Commission on Audit (COA) para sa 2021, napuna ng komisyon ang ginawang pagbili ng DepEd ng P2.4 bilyong halaga ng laptops sa pamamagitan ng  Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM-PS) gayong mayroong mas mura at mas maayos na opsyon sa pamilihan.

“The purchase of the more expensive laptops than the ones on budget resulted in the procurement of fewer units, depriving over 28,000 teachers of the benefit,” ayon sa COA.

“Based on the initial feedbacks we gathered from the auditors in the NCR and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), they stated that  the delivered laptop computers by the winning bidder are too slow because the processor is …. outdated; and the price is too high based on the specifications as attached to the DepEd Memorandum,” ayon pa rin sa COA.

Sinabi ng state auditors na nakipag-ayos at pumayag ang DepEd sa presyo at technical specification na ibinigay ng DBM-PS.

“Per available documents, the Audit Team could not ascertain the DBM-PS’ basis for adopting the unit price of P58,300. Apparently, the supposed number of laptops to be procured of 68,500 units was significantly reduced to 39,583 units which was mainly due to the huge increase of estimated cost P35,046 to P58,300 anchored on the DBM-PS’ recommendation, which was duly accepted by the DepEd,” ang pahayag ng COA.

“The price per unit is pricey for an entry-level type of laptop which resulted in significant decrease in the number of units provided to intended users. The huge difference of P23,253 per unit price resulted in a significant decrease by 28,917 laptop computers. Consequently, an estimated 28,917 teachers were deprived of the possible benefits from the supposed provision of these laptops,” anito pa rin. (Daris Jose)