Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 19) — The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee recommended the filing of graft and corruption charges against former Department of Budget and Management procurement service head Christopher Lloyd Lao and some former and present officials of the Department of Education over the procurement of “overpriced” laptops in 2021.
The draft committee report pointed out that the laptops procured by DepEd through the PS-DBM in 2021 were overpriced by ₱979 million. The panel suggested that there could be a conspiracy between DepEd and PS-DBM officials.
Aside from Lao, other PS-DBM and DepEd officials recommended to be charged are the following:
— Former PS-DBM OIC Executive Director Jasonmer Uayan
— Bids and Awards Committee chair Ulysses Mora
— PS-DBM special awards and bids committee member Marwan Amil.
— Former DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua
— DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla
— Former DepEd Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III
— Former DepEd Executive Assistant Alec Ladanga
— DepEd Director for Information and Communications Technology Service Abram Abanil
— Other members of the Special Bids and Awards Committee I and SBAC technical working group and secretariat, whether from DepEd or DBM
Moreover, the panel recommended that Sevilla and Ladanga be charged for falsification of public documents by a public official. It also called for the filing of charges for multiple counts of perjury against Sevilla, Pascua, Malana, Lao, and Uayan.
The committee also suggested the Commission on Audit issue notices of disallowance against Sevilla, Pascua, and Malana for the overpriced purchase of the laptops.
It also recommended that the overprice of ₱979 million be recovered and placed in a special trust fund to support health and medical needs of public schoolteachers and the educational needs of their children.
Meanwhile, Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairperson Senator Francis Tolentino absolved former DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, saying that she may have only been “used” to approve the procurement of the overpriced laptops, funding for which was sourced from Republic Act No. 11494, or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.
Apart from Tolentino, other senators who signed the report were: Ronald dela Rosa, Bong Go, Sherwin Gatchalian, Jinggoy Estrada, Imee Marcos, Raffy Tulfo, JV Ejercito, Risa Hontiveros, Koko Pimentel, Grace Poe, and Joel Villanueva. However, Estrada dissented.
DepEd
DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said the department has yet to receive a copy of the report, but he assured that it will consider the Senate panel’s findings and recommendations to improve its procurement process.
Meanwhile, with regards to the filing of criminal charges against DepEd’s former and current officials, Poa said they will leave it to the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate.
“Maybe the Ombudsman will take cognizance of the case. We will also seek guidance with the Secretary on how we’ll proceed,” he said in a statement.
The Senate investigation stemmed from a COA report that the PS-DBM bought laptops at ₱58,300 per unit, even though they should only cost over ₱35,000 each.
The Blue Ribbon Committee also found out that the DepEd repeatedly changed the use and allocation of the P2.4-billion budget from tablets to mobile loads for students to laptops for teachers.
