THE Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management yesterday admitted there was no information technology expert around when the contract to purchase some P2.4 billion worth of laptops for the Department of Education was crafted.
This vital information surfaced when Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito questioned PS-DBM Executive Director and Undersecretary Dennis Santiago as the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee held its first hearing on the issue of outdated and pricey laptops procured by the PS-DBM for the DepEd.
“Is there an IT expert among members who approved the specification of the procured laptops? Because I noticed that what we approved is Celeron, that is the entry level CPU (central processing unit), that’s the cheapest,” Ejercito asked.
In response, Santiago said: “There was an initial finding on the submission of the bidder and the Bids and Awards Committee deliberated. There’s no IT expert, I believe, in the group at the time, your honor, when it was being deliberated. But the BAC deliberated based on their findings after a motion for reconsideration was filed by the bidder, your honor.”
Former DepEd chief Leonor Briones said after the memorandum of agreement to purchase the P2.4 billion worth of laptops was signed, she “issued directives to various officials of the government, of DepEd, who should be responsible for dealing with the PS-DBM.
“My role is signing the agreement. All others were theirs. Where another agency has the better capacity of professional competence to engage in a government transaction, we pass it on to them, including the funds and the decision-making. It’s not without precedent,” Briones said.
Santiago said as a general procedure, the requesting agency will submit a “procurement request with the technical requirement, and of course, the budget.”
After that, Santiago said there will be a procurement conference that will be attended by, in this case, representatives of DepEd in the PS-DBM technical working group. He added the DepEd had three representatives while the PS-DBM had one.
He said that in the Bids and Awards Committee, four individuals represented the PS-DBM and only one will come from the DepEd.
“So, when they make a vote, the majority will always prevail. So, if DepEd only has one representative who votes against, and the four are in favor, the four will prevail,” he added.
Santiago identified the members of the PS-DBM BAC who approved the contract as Director Abraham Abanil, Engr. Marwan Amil, Paul Estrada, Vic Anthony Tubon, and Ulysses Mora.
Abanil said they made the decision to buy the laptops “based on the recommendation of the technical working group.
“I am a member of the BAC. We make decisions based on the TWG. We analyze the documents and that was our basis for approving…I trusted that the TWG made their due diligence,” Abanil said.
Asked by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano if he can reject the recommended specifications by the TWG since he is a member of the BAC, Abanil answered in the affirmative but added he did not do so as he trusted the TWG.
RUNAROUND
Ranking DepEd and PS-DBM officials gave senators a runaround on who among their officials approved the purchase of outdated and pricey laptops intended for the use of teachers.
DepEd Undersecretary for Administration Alain Pascua and Director Abraham Abanil of the Special Bids and Awards Committee of the PS-DBM refused to name names when grilled by Senators Francis Tolentino, SBRC chairman; Alan Peter Cayetano and Ronald dela Rosa during the hearing.
Tolentino first threw the question at Briones, who physically attended the hearing, but Briones referred the query to Pascua, who heads the DepEd’s information technology unit.
Tolentino said documents that he obtained showed that Pascua and Abanil apparently signed and approved the purchase of the laptops, initially priced at P35,046.50, good for 68,500 units, but was changed by the PS-DBM to P58,300 per unit which can only buy 39,583 units.
“It appears that only the two of you signed. I have documents. (With) a certain Abram Abanil. It shows that you two approved (the contract). This has supporting papers,” Tolentino said.
Pascua replied that his name was not included in the document shown by Tolentino.
Cayetano butted in, asking the same question, but Pascua still refused to name names and said the document given to the DepEd by the PS-DBM was not meant to get the approval of DepEd but an “option” that if the price of a laptop is P58,300 per unit, it can only purchase 39,583 units.
Pascua said the PS-DBM gave the DepEd an “action slip” before the procurement, which indicated the price and quantity of laptops that can be bought for the budget of P2.4 billion.
He said it was Abanil who signed the concurrence on the action slip, which stated there was on option to buy the laptops priced differently from the initial price but at a lesser quantity.
“As to why DepEd agreed on the price given by PS-DBM, because the PS-DBM gave us an action slip and I have explained that on the sworn statement I have provided. There’s an annex there where there is an action slip coming from PS-DBM that says there the price that we have given them, the P35,000 price and the quantity that we have also asked them to procure,” Pascua said.
Cayetano said Pascua was giving them the runaround and was only trying to make his way out of the mess.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said the DepEd should not have approved the purchase of the outdated laptops, adding: “If you are really concerned (with the teachers) you should not have approved (the purchase). Now we will go back to the question. Who approved the purchase? Because PS-DBM will not proceed with the bidding if you do not approve it.”
Pascua tried to reply but was cut short by Cayetano, who said: “It (the contract) speaks for itself. So, let’s apply that to this contract Procurement Service Reply Action document, it states the price which is at P58,000. In the bottom, it shows that they are ‘conforme,’ they have signed it. It speaks for itself.”
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III said someone should be held liable for the purchase of the outdated and pricey laptops that was disadvantageous to the government.
Lloyd Christopher Lao, who was involved in the Pharmally controversy, virtually attended the hearing since there were purchases made by the PS-DBM for the DepEd when he was still head of the PS-DBM.
Lao asked the committee to issue a certificate that shows he “has no pending case, contempt charges, and warrant of arrest” from the Blue Ribbon Committee, adding he will request the Department of Justice to lift the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order “issued by the Department of Justice as a result of the Senate investigation.”
Tolentino, however, said he cannot decide for himself and has to consult the committee members on the matter.