‘P2.4-B laptop purchase not covered by MOA’
The procurement of P2.4 billion of “outdated” laptop units for the Department of Education (DepEd) was not covered by a memorandum of agreement (MOA), Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said yesterday.
This came to light at the continuation of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the questionable purchase of gadgets for public school teachers last year.
At the hearing, Marcelo Bragado of the DepEd-Procurement Management Service testified that an MOA for the purchase contract was actually signed in May 2021 and not in February, contrary to earlier testimonies from other officials of the DepEd and the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (DBM-PS).
“Seems like everything’s falling into place and it’s becoming clearer. And in fact, Mr. Ulysses Mora was telling the truth that at that time… there was no MOA and MOA was still pending,” Gatchalian said. Mora is the chair of the DBM-PS special bids and awards committee.
“But this also goes to show Mr. Chair that Mr. Uayan is lying, lying to this committee,” Gatchalian said, referring to Jasonmer Uayan, who was DBM-PS executive director.
“So in effect, Mr. Chair, this whole procurement is defective. You have no legal basis. We spent P2.4 billion without MOA, asked for a quotation, and make an invitation to bid without MOA,” he said. “Is that an accurate description Attorney Bragado?”
Bragado maintained that the MOA was signed between May 29 and June 3, 2021.
“As a matter of fact, I was diligently doing my function in coordinating the MOA until May 28, 2021. I have no idea that the MOA will be antedated,” Bragado pointed out. “It appears that it was antedated. In my personal knowledge, I was the one who was requesting party signatures for the MOA.”
Committee chair Sen. Francis Tolentino described Bragado’s information as “disconcerting,” warning that those involved in the alleged infraction may be held for falsification of public documents.
Tolentino said Bragado may have to substantiate his claims with documents. “If you have records to show that there really was an antedating to let the committee conclude that there was antedating. This will all be changed. Even the COA (Commission on Audit) probably missed this antedating and it will have grave effects and consequences as to the disbursement made,” Tolentino said.
Splitting of contracts
The committee uncovered a possible violation by the DepEd of the government procurement law on the splitting of contracts when it found out that the agency had undertaken repeat orders for laptop units and other IT equipment from only five suppliers.
The five companies have cornered billions of pesos in procurement deals from DepEd since 2013, according to Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.
Estrada said these suppliers – Advance Solutions Inc., Columbia Technologies Inc., Reddot Imaging Philippines Inc., Techguru Inc. and Girltekki Inc. – have apparently been favored by the DepEd over the past years to supply its IT requirements.
He cited “several repeat orders made by the DepEd in favor of these suppliers,” enabling the agency to dispense with the need for public bidding for new contracts.
Under Section 51 of Republic Act 9184, repeat orders as method for procurement are allowed, provided that they “will not result in splitting of contracts, requisitions, or purchase orders.”