THE Department of Education yesterday said it has already submitted documents requested by the Commission on Audit on the P2.308 billion procurement of entry-level laptops for public school teachers in 2021 that were found to be overpriced.
“We have already submitted the requirements and documents asked by the Commission on Audit,” DepEd spokesperson Michael Tan Poa said in a press briefing. “We are now awaiting the response of COA on our submission.”
Poa said the COA findings did not automatically mean that corruption or irregularity attended the purchase of the laptops.
“Those were audit findings and are not conclusive evidence that there was corruption,” Poa said.
The purchase of the laptops took place during the previous administration, with Leonor Briones at the helm of DepEd.
COA auditors said the DepEd paid P58,300 for each laptop even though the approved budget was set for P35,046.50 per unit or an excess of P23,253.50 per unit.
The purchase was conducted through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management.
The PS-DBM is the same entity that figured in the controversial multi-billion peso purchase by the government of face masks, personal protective equipment and other COVID-19 supplies from Pharmally Corporation, which had a paid up capital of over P600,000.
COA said due to the 66-percent price jack-up, the DepEd had to rethink its original plan to provide laptops to 68,500 teachers, with the number reduced by almost half to just 39,583.
