ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio welcomed the Office of the Ombudsman’s decision to file graft and falsification charges against former Education Secretary Leonor Briones and 13 other officials over the P2.4-billion overpriced laptop procurement scandal.
“This is a vindication of our persistent calls for accountability in the misuse of public funds intended for our teachers,” Tinio said. “The Ombudsman’s findings confirm what we have been saying all along – that this deal was not only grossly overpriced but also deprived thousands of teachers of the quality equipment they needed during the pandemic.”
The Ombudsman found that the government overpaid by almost P1 billion for laptops that were outdated and did not meet the required technical specifications. The scandal reduced the number of intended beneficiaries from 68,500 to only 39,583 public school teachers.
“Ang P2.4 bilyong pondo na ito ay dapat sana nakatulong sa mas maraming guro sa panahon ng pandemya. Pero dahil sa korapsyon at palpak na procurement, hindi lamang naging mahal ang mga laptop, pati na rin ang kalidad ay hindi umabot sa inaasahan,” Tinio emphasized.
Tinio recalled that ACT Teachers, along with other members of the Makabayan bloc, filed House Resolutions 189 and 950 in the 19th Congress to investigate the anomaly. The resolutions were introduced by ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Party-List Rep. Raoul Danniel Manuel.
“The laptops were procured at P58,270 per unit when the market price for the same Dell model ranged only from P22,490 to P25,000. This is a clear case of plunder disguised as procurement,” Tinio stated.
The ACT Teachers representative also noted that the laptops delivered were equipped with Intel Core Celeron processors – “the most low-end type of Intel processor in the market” – which did not comply with the required 1.9 GHz clock speed specification.
“Hindi lang pinalaki ang presyo, binaba pa nila ang kalidad ng mga laptop na ibinigay sa aming mga guro. Ito ay double insult sa aming mga educators na nangangailangan ng de-kalidad na kagamitan para sa distance learning,” Tinio added.
The congressman called for swift prosecution of the cases and full recovery of the stolen funds.
“We demand that all those responsible for this massive corruption be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The P979.36 million in undue injury to the government must be recovered and returned to the people,” Tinio concluded.
“Ang mga guro at mga mag-aaral ang tunay na biktima ng corruption na ito. Kailangan nating siguruhing hindi na mauulit ang ganitong klaseng pagnanakaw sa pondo ng edukasyon.”
The Ombudsman’s charges include violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and falsification of public documents against former DepEd Secretary Briones, former PS-DBM chief Lloyd Christopher Lao, and other high-ranking officials from both agencies.
