FILIPINOS are getting inured to big-time scandals involving hundreds of millions of pesos in government transactions being mishandled or stolen by their officials.
The problem is compounded by the avalanche of cases filed in the Office of the Ombudsman, and those that reach the Sandiganbayan still have to wait in line for resolution, which may take a number of years.
Many people are therefore happy that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, headed by Sen. Francis Tolentino, has recommended the filing of graft and perjury charges against high-ranking officials of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) and of the Department of Education (DepEd), who figured in the alleged anomalous purchase of “overpriced” and “outdated” laptops.
‘Clearly, we have not seen the closure in this laptop purchase scandal that has remained a huge embarrassment for the DepEd, now headed by Vice President Sara Duterte.’
The Tolentino committee’s 197-page report established that the contract for supply and delivery of laptop computers for public school teachers in the 2021 project was overpriced by at least P979-million. The committee report was signed by 12 senators, including him and the two minority senators, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Risa Hontiveros.
The committee report recommended the filing of charges for violation of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, against former DepEd Undersecretary Alain del Pascua, Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla, former Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III, Director Abram Y.C. Abanil, former PS-DBM OIC Lloyd Christopher Lao, former PS-DBM OIC executive director Jasonmer Uayan, Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Ulysses Mora, as well as the other members of the SBAC 1 and SBAC technical working group and secretariat whether from DepEd or PS-DBM, and engineer Marwan Amil.
The panel also recommended that charges be filed against Sevilla and DepEd former executive assistant Alec Ladanga for falsification of public documents under Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code. Perjury charges were also recommended to be filed against Sevilla, Pascua, Malana, Lao and Uayan.
However, the committee report excluded former DepEd secretary Leonor Briones from the recommendation sheet. Tolentino said the former DepEd head “may have unwittingly approved the new parameters which increased the unit price and decreased the quantity of laptops to be purchased.”
Rep. France Castro of the opposition Makabayan group disagreed with this part of the recommendations, saying that Briones should also face administrative and criminal charges “for signing a pro forma memorandum of agreement without even reading it.”
Castro said “this is gross neglect of duty costing billions of taxpayers’ money and another burden for teachers,” adding that senators can themselves file charges against these officials so that they know that the Senate is serious in stamping out corruption. If senators do not want to file charges, then they can at least assist the teachers who want to do so, said Representative Castro.
Clearly, we have not seen the closure in this laptop purchase scandal that has remained a huge embarrassment for the DepEd, now headed by Vice President Sara Duterte. More action has to be done to achieve justice for the people against whom this crime was committed. But who will do the hard work?