One of the biggest controversies that the Department of Education (DepEd) faced was its procurement of overpriced laptops for teachers. This investigation revealed a lot of things that include procured laptops being significantly slower than similarly-priced models in the market. Fast forward to 2024, it seems that DepEd has not learned from its mistake, as a House Budget Hearing uncovered irregularities for the bidding of a new batch of laptops.
READ MORE:
- Hundreds of DepEd Laptops Being Sold At Surplus Store
- COA Investigation Reveals DepEd Purchased Better Laptops back in 2020
The new issue involved the DepEd Computerization Program from 2022 to 2023, where the bidding for a new batch of laptops did not push through, prompting for a rebidding process. What Congress found suspicious is that the rebidding process resulted in the government losing Php 1.6 billion in savings because the initial bidding process did not push through.
AKO BICOL Rep. Jil Bongalon reiterated during the hearing that the savings from the initial bidding could have allowed the agency to purchase more laptops for students and teachers. It’s not clear why the initial bidding for the laptops did not push through, and Congress is waiting for DepEd’s explanation with what happened. In addition, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro also requested the DepEd to provide all the necessary bidding documents related to the laptop procurement from 2022 to 2024.
Prior to this, the DepEd has been embroiled in hot water where it allegedly purchased an overpriced DSLR camera.