MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is set to hold its first hearing on the overpriced laptop orders by the Department of Education that were flagged by the Commission on Audit.
To recall, it was the procurement service of the Department of Budget and Management that handled the transaction for the DepEd — the same government agency behind the questionable pandemic deals with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.
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State auditors have flagged the P2.4-billion deal for laptops that the Department of Education bought through the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service. Auditors said the laptops were too expensive and were outdated.
"There have been many calls over the past few weeks to abolish the PS-DBM...I support these calls, but an equally – if not more urgent call – needs to be made: hold to account the officials who used the PS-DBM as their milking cow," Sen. Risa Hontiveros said at the first organizational meeting of the Blue Ribbon panel.
"There are too many questions for DepEd. Why did it take so long? Why didn't they bid it out? Did they decide on the specs? Why didn't they complain about it before COA flagged the laptops?" Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also told reporters earlier.
Ahead of the hearings, committee chair Sen. Francis Tolentino told reporters the inquiry would largely zone in on the bidding and procurement process that went into the laptops.
Watch the Senate inquiry LIVE, which will start at 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2022.