DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) officials on Tuesday said they are ready to face a congressional inquiry regarding the laptops procured by the Department of Budget and Management for public school teachers.
“DepEd believes that this matter needs to be resolved immediately, and we submit to the process as we commit to transparency and accountability—even if the issue only involves an Audit Observation Memorandum, which requires the submission of documents to the Commission of Audit [COA],” DepEd said in a news statement issued late Monday night.
DepEd issued the statement after Makabayan bloc lawmakers filed a House Resolution seeking an investigation of DepEd’s 2021 laptop purchase for teachers costing P58,000 each.
The purchase, made through the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Service (PS-DBM), was flagged by a Commission on Audit report that questioned the hefty price of the laptops, and the use of alleged outdated features.
It further drew attention because the PS-DBM had been at the crosshairs of congressional investigators for handling bulk transactions outsourced by other departments during the pandemic, and which the COA had also flagged.
“Especially amid the pandemic, economic crisis and ailing educational situation, the government should ensure that the access of teachers and students to quality programs and services,” read the resolution filed by Makabayan party-list Representatives France Castro of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Arlene Brosas of Gabriela, and Raoul Manuel of Kabataan.
However, the DepEd urged Castro to be prudent in her pronouncements on this matter.
“DepEd believes that it is not right to declare that the contract was anomalous without a final report by COA, much less findings from the Ombudsman,” the DepEd said.
The DepEd said that Castro should be reminded of the “fundamental reforms” that DepEd made under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte—including the Salary Standardization Law of 2019, which assured teachers of an annual salary increase; the Expanded Career Progression System for Public School Teachers, among others.
“The DepEd also takes exception to the statement that teachers are banned [being at the receiving end of a stingy management] DepEd has always been proactive in promoting teachers’ welfare over the years,” the DepEd stressed.
