PS-DBM admits missing out on speed details for DepEd laptops

A member of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) admitted “missing out” on some details on the price analysis for laptops bought by the Department of Education.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III asked why the word “complied” was indicated in the price analysis document of PS-DBM when the laptops failed to meet the required speed of 1.9 gigahertz (GHz).

“Nandoon, sinabi na to leverage latest generation intel, pero nilagay ‘comply’, sana kinuha niyo na lang ‘yung entry nila [supplier] na ‘to leverage we lower the speed’, why wasn’t it done in this case?,” Pimentel said.

“How come on this particular instance, on the speed, you did not do or your pseudo department, what you did to other suppliers and what you did to other specifications, by copying, if it’s not exactly compliant, you put it there on notice lahat that it is not perfectly compliant,” Pimentel added.

Pimentel first asked Abram Abanil, a member of the PS-DBM’s special awards and bids committee.

Abanil explained that it was not him but the PS-DBM’s technical working group that prepared the price analysis, and he had just signed it.

“I trusted the technical working group made their due diligence in terms of conducting a price analysis. Nakita ko naman sa mga document na mataas na ‘yung presyo,” he explained.

“Ito lang pinakita sa akin na document when we were doing the review so that was also the basis of my signature,” Abanil added.

“It’s like a basketball game,” Pimentel said, as Abanil pass blame around.

“May layo talaga sa PS-DBM. Hinahanda ang mga items na mananalo eh, maybe that could be one of the conclusions. Welcome to the basketball game that we do not see. We only get to see it pag may sumabog na,” he said.

Pimentel the asked Marwan Amil, a member of the PS-DBM’s special awards and bids committee, who admitted to being one of the persons to have prepared the price analysis.

Amil admitted that they“missed out on the statement of compliance of the supplier.”

“We did not see it directly. We have a mistake there. We didn’t see it properly,” he said.

“Theoretically on paper may system sila, may review sila so that ‘yung mga missed out ay hindi na-mamiss out. Pero pagdating sa review, ‘yung reviewer, may proxy pumirma ng form, ‘yung na-miss out ay na-miss out pa rin,” the senator said.