Nation85

VP Sara asks for COA ‘fraud audit’ to investigate P2.4-B laptop deal

By The President NewsPosted on
Time to Read:-words
Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

MANILA – As directed by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday requested a fraud audit from the Commission on Audit (COA) to investigate the allegedly overpriced and obsolete laptops purchased for teachers.

DepEd Undersecretary and Chief-of-staff Epimaco Densing III stated during a press briefing that they have already transmitted their letter to COA Chairperson Jose Calida.

“In the meantime, while we are not yet declaring that there is a fraudulent transaction that happened at that time, we’re also not saying that there is none… Kaya nga po ang direktiba po sa’min ni Secretary, ni VP Sara, paimbestigahan niyo na ‘yan, para makita kung mayroon bang kalokohan o wala (That’s why the directive to us by VP Secretary Sara, let it be investigated, to see whether or not there’s an irregularity),” he said.

According to Densing, Duterte had ordered last Friday to request a fraud audit from COA on the procurement of the PHP2.4 billion laptops through the Procurement Services of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).

“Ang tinitingnan po namin ngayon (What we are looking at) is not an official investigation yet, and this is the reason why we are asking COA to do a fraud audit, the reason why it was downgraded from 1.9 gigahertz to 1.8 gigahertz. At the same time tumaas din ang presyo (the price also increased), and why is it [an] Intel Celeron,” he added.

All the documents “immediately given” by the PS-DBM upon the DepEd’s request, he said, have already been submitted to the COA.

Densing stated that the DepEd prefers to conduct future purchases through its own team in order to avoid similar controversies after the COA flagged the 2021 report on the procurement of the PHP2.4 billion laptops for online classes in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Kami sa execom ng DepEd (We in the DepEd executive committee), we are already one that for future procurement, we will do our procurement via our own procurement service here at the DepEd, and hopefully wala nang mga ganung klase ng budget na ibibigay out of the blue, para hindi na rin tayo dumaan sa PS-DBM (there will be no longer a budget given out of the blue, so we don’t have to go through PS-DBM),” he said.

The PS-DBM, headed by Executive Director Dennis Santiago, turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) documents related to the procurement of the DepEd’s laptops last Friday.

Santiago previously instructed his office to have a thorough examination of COA’s findings, stressing that the mandate of the PS-DBM is to ensure a transparent and competitive procurement process.

“The NBI is a highly competent investigation authority to take over the matter to ensure that the probe would be fair, impartial, and independent. We do not want any room for suspicion,” Santiago said.

The decision to involve the NBI, Santiago added, was made after the examination revealed alleged discrepancies in the initial findings, which are similar to the COA’s findings.

85 Replies to “VP Sara asks for COA ‘fraud audit’ to investigate P2.4-B laptop deal”

  1. Magnificent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too excellent.

    I really like what you have acquired here, certainly
    like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it.
    You make it enjoyable and you still take care of to keep it sensible.
    I cant wait to read much more from you. This is really
    a wonderful site.

    Reply

  79. Do you have a spam problem on this site; I also am a blogger, and I was wondering your situation; many of us have created some nice practices and we are looking to exchange techniques with other folks, be sure to shoot
    me an email if interested.

    Reply

  82. Spot on with this write-up, I really believe that this web site needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably
    be returning to read more, thanks for the info!

    Reply

  83. Today, I went to the beachfront with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year
    old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.”
    She put the shell to her ear and screamed.
    There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
    She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!

    Here is my web site 1รับ100

    Reply

  85. ทางเราจำหน่าย kardinal stick , ks qik , ks kurve ต้องขอบอกได้เลยว่า kardinalstealththailand.com เป็นตัวแทนหลักอย่างเป็นทางการในไทย
    ที่ใหญ่ที่สุด และเป็นเจ้าเดียวกับ RELX THAILAND สินค้าทุกแบรนด์ ทุกรุ่น เราได้ทำการคัดสรร บุหรี่ไฟฟ้า
    ที่เป็นหนึ่งในนวัตกรรม ช่วยเลิกบุหรี่ ที่มีประสิทธิดีเยี่ยม และช่วยได้จริง มาให้ลูกค้าได้เลือกใช้ โดยสินค้าทุกชิ้นของเรา สั่งตรงจากโรงงาน

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *