Solon wants to investigate DepEd procurement of 39,000 laptops for public school teachers

Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera-Dy wants to investigate Department of Education procurement of 39,000 laptops for public school teachers.

According to Herrera-Dy, she received information that the contract is set to be awarded not to the lowest bidder, but to the second-lowest bidder which is against to the mandate of Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act

“We received information that the contract was practically secured by the second-lowest bidder at almost P2.3 billion, which is P167 million higher than the bid of the lowest bidder,” Herrera-Dy said.

“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,” she added.

Herrera-Dy said the need was ballistic nylon, but the lowest bidder submitted a sample of a bag made from 100 percent polyester.

“Bakit naman ang laptop bag at hindi ang specs ng computer ang naging basehan sa pag-award ng contract sa pagbili ng laptop computers para sa mga guro natin sa public school? Nang dahil lang sa bag?” Herrera-Dy said.

“Mas importante pa pala ang bag na may kabuuang halaga ng P167 million kesa sa specs ng computer. Hindi ba may mali rito?” she added.

Herrera-Dy said Congress must do something with this kind of procurement projects using people’s money.