THE Department of Education is seeking the assistance of individuals well-versed in cameras and related equipment to help in its probe against alleged overpriced cameras purchased by the department in 2019.
“If you have cameramen who are knowledgeable with camera specs and market prices whether now or in 2019, then they are welcome to contact me to provide me with some expert opinion on the matter,” DepEd spokesman Michael Tan Poa told reporters seeking details on the latest controversy rocking the department.
Poa said he is also set to meet with officials of the department’s Bids and Awards Committee to get details on the controversial procurement.
“I have requested for the procurement documents in relation to the 2019 procurement of cameras. We will confirm once we have them,” he said. “I am also scheduling a meeting with the Bids and Awards Secretariat in order to get the details on the procurement that transpired in 2019.”
Activist Renato Reyes Jr. has posted on his social media accounts several bidding documents for the purchase of IT equipment, mostly cameras and associated kits by the department that he claimed were overpriced.
A request for a quotation by DepEd-CARAGA region dated September 15, 2022 showed a P170,000 approved budget for one mirrorless DSLR camera with entry-level specification.
“Do the specs justify the approved budget?” Reyes posed.
Another was for one unit of a DSLR Canon 1500D camera with kit lens with an approved budget of P155,929.
Reyes said a similar model sells for just P23,798 with Lazada.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and the Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) also called on the DepEd, the Commission on Audit and Congress to probe the issue.
ACT chairperson Vladimir Quetua deployed the latest shenanigan involving the DepEd considering the huge problems facing the basic education sector.
“People who were involved in this have no conscience for spending public money that should have been allocated to the education of the youth. They are stealing from the children’s future. It is imperative that this should be investigated, and all those who benefited should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Quetua said.
TDC national chairperson Benjo Basas also called on Vice President and concurrent DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte to initiate an inquiry on the matter.
“This should be probed. The teachers are coping with low salaries and insufficient benefits.
Students lack chairs, classrooms and books. There are no guidance counselors, nurses, clerical staff and guards at schools. There are many other problems but why are the higher-ups at DepEd spending like there is no tomorrow?” Basas said.
