The Senate blue ribbon committee report on the investigation into the Department of Education’s P2.4 billion laptop procurement deal is expected to be completed before Christmas break, Senator Francis Tolentino said.
“Surely before Christmas break we’ll have the committee report and as we have done before, we will release the dispositive portion in advance,” Tolentino, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon panel, told reporters Thursday night.
The Blue ribbon chairman said he was hesitant to release the report before the yuletide season but since the issue being investigated surfaced in 2022, they will release the recommendations within the year.
“Nag-aalangan nga ako kung ilalabas saiing Kapaskuhan o hindi e pero kung ilabasi mo naman sa January baka sabihin naman bagong taon na bagong taon nilabas. So dahil issue ito ng 2022, ilabas na natin saiing 2022,” he said.
(I’m hesitant to release it during the holiday season but if we release it in January, others might say that it is not a good way to start the new year. So since it is an issue in 2022, we will release it in 2022.)
So far, Tolentino said the committee has already finished 95% of the report.
Asked if they will recommend further investigation or charges to the Office of the Ombudsman, Tolentino said: “Marami (A lot).”
However, he did not disclose further details on the possible recommendations of the Senate panel.
The sessions in the Senate will be adjourned on December 17, 2022 and will resume on January 22, 2023.
In August, the Blue Ribbon committee launched the investigation into DepEd’s purchase of “outdated and pricey” laptops through the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (PS-DBM).
The probe focused on the memorandum of agreement used for the laptop procurement and the bidding process that the PS-DBM and the DepEd had conducted.
In its 2021 annual audit report, the Commission on Audit flagged DepEd for purchasing more expensive laptops than the ones indicated in their budget which resulted in the procurement of fewer units, depriving over 28,000 teachers of the benefit.-AOL, GMA Integrated News
.