Just a few days before the school year opened, unpleasant news struck the Department of Education (DepEd). The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the suspension of DepEd’s top executive officials for an alleged anomalous laptop deal.
The Order was based on documents submitted by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee nearly two years after a thorough investigation. There was substantial evidence to warrant the preventive suspension based on the report.
Last year the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the DepEd over the P2.4 billion worth of expensive entry-level laptops for public school teachers. According to the COA, the estimated cost of each laptop increased to P58,300 from P35,046.50, which was the original request of the DepEd. The final price was anchored on the recommendation of the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) accepted by the DepEd.
What is the moral implication of this suspension of higher DepEd officials who are supposed to live and promote the principle of “public office is a public trust”? It is inconceivable that at the height of the pandemic some unscrupulous officials took advantage of their power and influence to gain public funds at the expense of the teachers’ laptop project.
Many teachers used personal computers and laptops to serve the learners’ online classes during the pandemic. The overpriced and outdated laptops never reached the teachers during the implementation of blended learning.
Do DepEd officials still have the moral ascendancy to lead the agency after this alleged impropriety? Most probably, those officials involved are no longer in the DepEd payroll, but the shame and disgrace have damaged the whole system.
The agency under the administration of concurrent Education Secretary Vice President Sara Duterte must do something to recover not only the learning loss but the trust and confidence in the institution.
The Department that gets the lion’s share of the national budget annually should prove it has the highly competent and committed officials that uphold the highest standard of conduct and performance to fulfill its mission-vision and mandate to provide responsive, sustainable, essential support to teachers and quality education to Filipino learners.