The Senate blue ribbon committee learned on Thursday that the Department of Education (DepEd) proceeded with the procurement of laptops valued at P2.4 billion without a valid authorization to transfer funds to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) as its purchasing agent.
Dennis Santiago, the executive director of PS-DBM at the time, told senators during the fourth hearing of the committee on the DepEd’s laptop purchase that it might have been against the law for DepEd and PS-DBM to use a 2017 memorandum of agreement (MOA) because it did not cover the purchase of laptops.
Furthermore, Dennis Santiago said in response to a question from Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, “It’s not normal because as I mentioned earlier before you commence your procurement activity, you have to have the MOA already. Considering that laptop procurement is not covered, I cannot see how they could have used the 2017 MOA.”
When the senator pressed Santiago more about the legality of using the old MOA, Santiago answered, “Not legal, your honor.”
The implementation of the MOA between the two agencies, which was meant to clarify their roles in the P2.4 billion laptop purchase, was at the center of the inquiry into the laptop acquisition.
The Bayanihan to Recover As One Act’s fund was intended to be used to buy computers for public school teachers so they could teach online in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Commission on Audit (COA) raised concerns about the “expensive and out-of-date” Dell Latitude 3420 laptops that were purchased for P58,300 each, which sparked the scandal.
Other witnesses from earlier hearings were questioned by Gatchalian about whether DepEd and the PS-DBM began the procurement process with just a draft 2021 MOA to cover the transaction.
Inconsistency
According to Jasonmer Uayan, a former PS-DBM acting executive director, the transaction was covered under the 2021 MOA utilizing the 2017 agreement as a basis.
“As far as I can recall, the 2017 MOA is not limited to annexes, nowhere in the body does it limit the procurement activities between posting, 2017 can actually be used for the procurement process,” he added.
DepEd, however, denied that it had given instructions on how to apply the 2017 MOA or that it had offered legal counsel.
“So clearly there is inconsistency in the statements, and I have established early on that the 2017 MOA cannot be used because it does not contain the laptops,” Gatchalian said. “So that is where we are right now.”
State auditor and attorney Cristina Layug-Abella endorsed the conclusions of the COA audit team about the laptop purchase.
