A “conspiracy among conspirators” was established in the procurement of overpriced yet outdated laptops worth a total of P2.4 billion by the Department of Education intended for teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Francis Tolentino said Thursday.
On the fifth and last day of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing into the matter, Tolentino stressed the case went deeper and got more complicated as the hearing went on.
“It was definitely planned, the conspiracy angle is still there, but we cannot say yet the role of conspirators” in the controversial purchase made by the DepEd through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the senator said.
The Blue Ribbon committee will come out with its report on the probe about a month later or by Nov. 20, Tolentino added.
During the hearing, the Commission on Audit (COA) presented “significant” audit findings that showed the price of each laptop provided to DepEd was 100% higher than its actual price.
COA State Auditor Job Aguirre released a comparison chart where it appeared that the laptop bought by DepEd through PS-DBM was 159 percent more expensive compared to the prevailing market price.
The laptop of the same model is also 133% higher than the price in the online market, COA added.
With the DepEd paying P58,500 per laptop, “it will appear that the market price of each laptop is only P22,000 to P25,000 per unit (or the price of) the entry-level laptop,” state auditors said.
COA considers the laptops overpriced because based on its circular, any item which is more than 10% higher in price compared to the existing units in the market is excessive.
As of August 17, 2022, the Education department already bought 2,378 laptop units, but 1,678 or 70 percent of the units remained unused, kept at the DepEd’s Asset Management Division stock room.
These were never used by the intended teacher-beneficiaries, COA also added.
Aside from their “slow processor,” there is no certification and no standard materials used in the laptops, state auditors said after running a simulation test of the DepEd laptop against a different brand but with the same market price.
Before ending the Senate probe, Tolentino sought an apology for the teachers and students affected by the controversy.
This “laptop fracas,” he said, “involved a hefty amount of money and many persons, especially those who were deprived of the use of this gadget during the period of the pandemic.”
“We hope to have something that would amend existing laws. We hope to have something that would pin liability or accountability [on] persons that led to this situation. Though a hard fact, a hard reality to confront, we have to do it,” said Tolentino.
He also issued an order allowing the Senate resource persons’ lawyers to file a memorandum containing statements that were not raised during the panel hearing.