DEPUTY speaker Bernadette Herrera of the Bagong Henerasyon (BH) party-list wants the House of Representatives to start an investigation into the allegedly anomalous bidding process held by the Department of Education for the procurement of 39,000 laptop computers for its personnel.
Herrera said the contract for the supply and delivery of the laptops for public school teachers is questionable because it will not be awarded to the lowest bidder in direct violation of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
The House leader, who is expected to file a resolution seeking a congressional inquiry into the matter, said the contract will go to the second lowest bidder at almost P2.3 billion, which is P167 million higher than the bid of the lowest bidder.
“This is quite alarming and unacceptable because the P167 million that the government stands to lose from this project could be used elsewhere, especially during this pandemic,” Herrera said in a statement.
The DepEd is planning to provide laptops to some 68,500 personnel as the resumption of in-person learning for the next school year remains uncertain because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding for the P2.4-billion project will come from the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or the Bayanihan 2 law, which is set to expire by the end of the month.
Without identifying the winning bidder, Herrera said she was infuriated after finding out that the firm won the bidding because of the laptop carrying bag that it offered, instead of the actual computer.
“Why was the laptop bag the basis for awarding the contract for our public school teachers instead of the computer? Just because of the bag?” Herrera asked.
What made the matters worse, Herrera said, was the lowest bidder got a post-disqualification notice for allegedly not complying with the requirements, including the required specification for the carrying bag.
The requirement was ballistic nylon, but the lowest bidder submitted as sample a bag made from 100 percent polyester.
“It seems that the bag, which is worth P167 million, is more important than the computer. Isn’t this wrong?” Herrera asked.
Herrera said the budget for the laptop bags, which cost P5,000 each, could be used to procure android tablets for schoolchildren.
“Congress must do something to prevent the government from getting shortchanged in procurement projects using people’s money,” she said.
