Photo courtesy Rappler
THE Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the preventive suspension of officials of the Department of Education and the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management in connection with the purchase of allegedly overpriced laptops in 2021.
The order was issued in connection with a complaint questioning the supposedly high price that the government paid for laptops that had entry-level specifications.
The laptops, worth P2.4 billion, were for public school teachers to use during distance learning as a result of the pandemic.
Among those ordered suspended were former PS-DBM head Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao and Education Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla.
The DepEd said in a statement that it had received the order from the Office of the Ombudsman and would comply with it.
It said that only one of the officials, Sevilla, is still with the department.
“The Department of Education has received an Order from the Office of the Ombudsman, in relation to the alleged overpriced laptops, preventively suspending one of our current officials, Undersecretary Annalyn M. Sevilla, for the duration of the proceedings but not to exceed six (6) months,” it said.
“DepEd adheres to due process and shall abide by the said Order,” it added.
It also said it would not let the order affect its preparations for the opening of classes next week.
The former DepEd officials ordered suspended were:
DepEd Undersecretary Alain del Pascua
DepEd Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III
DepEd Director Abram Abanil
DepEd Executive Assistant IV Alec Ladanga
DepEd Director IV Marcelo Bragado
DepEd Supervising Administrative Officer Selwyn Briones
Also ordered suspended were:
Former PS-DBM officer-in-charge Jasonmer Uayan
PS-DBM Procurement Management Officer Ulysses Mora
PS-DBM Procurement Management Officer Marwan Amil
PS-DBM Procurement Management Officer Paul Armand Estrada
Earlier, the Commission on Audit questioned the DepEd’s purchase of laptops that it said were “pricey for an entry-level type laptop.”
It also said the purchase of the laptops at the given price decreased the number of beneficiaries by nearly half.
The purchase was coursed through the PS-DBM.
