THE Makabayan bloc at the House of Representatives has filed a resolution seeking investigation on the sale of Department of Education (DepEd)-procured laptops in surplus shops in Cebu City and Rizal, as well as online.
ACT Teachers Partylist Representative France Castro, Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Partylist Representative Raoul Manuel filed House Resolution 950, urging the Committee on Good Governance and Public Accounts to investigate the alleged ongoing anomaly in DepEd.
The opposition bloc said some people were making profit out of it at the expense of the teachers who were supposed to be the end-users of the laptops for the benefit of the children.
The resolution noted that public teachers from across the country did not receive the laptops procured by the DepEd under the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP) from 2021 to 2022.
“Due to the non-delivery of these procured laptops, teachers were forced to shell out from their own pockets and meager salaries the buying of the laptops to cope with the online or blended learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many teachers resorted to taking out loans just to buy their own laptops, loans for which, until now, they are still paying,” the resolution read.
A report by DepEd Central Visayas showed that at least 100 DepEd laptops were sold in a surplus store in Mandaue City, Cebu.
The probe was conducted after SunStar Cebu reported about the laptops being sold at HMR Cebu branch on October 21, 2022.
A concerned citizen said they bought the laptop, which has a torn DepEd logo, for P9,999.
"Mahalaga na maimbestigahan ito dahil kailangang-kailangan ng mga guro ang laptop sa ngayon. Nabudol na nga sila sa mga overpriced laptops na ito tapos pinarecall at ngayon naman ay pinagkakakitaan pa ng mga tiwali sa DepEd," said Castro.
(This should be investigated because the laptop is essential for teachers these days. They have already stumbled upon these overpriced laptops and then they were recalled and now, the corrupt people in DepEd are still making money.)
"We hope that the House investigation on this issue will be expedited and those responsible should be held accountable," she added.
In January, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee recommended the filing of charges against former and current officials of DepEd over the laptop procurement mess that focused on overpricing.
The committee said based on the pieces of evidence presented, the overpricing was established to have reached at least P979 million for more than 39,000 units. (SunStar Philippines)