Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has scored the supposed flaws in the procurement of pricey and defective laptops worth P2.4 billion for public school teachers during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the continuation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Gatchalian said the entire bidding and procurement process made by the Department of Education (DepEd) is “defective,” thus illegal.
“Wala pong legal basis. Gumastos po tayo ng P2.4 billion na walang MOA. Humingi po ng quotation at nag-file ng invitation to bid na wala pong MOA. Is that an accurate description?” tanong ni Gatchalian.
Lawyer Macelo Bragado Jr., director of DepEd’s Procurement Service, confirmed the assessment made by Gatchalian, being one of those who witnessed the signing of the memorandum of agreement between DepEd and the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) on May 28, 2021—the date when the invitation to bid was posted, including the request for quotation for the laptop procurement.
“It would appear, your honor, that you are correct. Because based on the documents I have and my personal recollection, I have the MOA signed only last May 28, 2021,” sagot ni Bragado.
Bragado also bared during his testimony on Thursday the supposed general MOA between DepEd and PS-DBM in the controversial laptop purchase, adding that aside from the P2.4-billion laptop procurement, there’s another P13-billion worth of projects was re-channeled by DepEd to PS-DBM.
According Bragado, former PS-DBM officer-in-charge Jasonmer Uayan initiated to amend the 2017 General MOA between the two agencies to make it appear that PS-DBM would be the contractor administrator instead of being the implementor.
