Lawmaker sees 'possible irregularities' in the 2023 DepEd bidding for computerization program

MANILA — A lawmaker sees “possible irregularities” in the Department of Education’s bidding for its computerization program in 2023, when the agency was still headed by Vice President Sara Duterte.

House Assistant Majority Leader and AKO BICOL Party List Representative Raul Bongalon said based on the information he received, the bid variance in the first bidding for the program was at around 24% or P1.6 billion, but the bidders were disqualified. 

In the second bidding, many of the previously disqualified bidders participated again, but the variance went down to just 1%, according to Bongalon.

“Ang impormasyon na nakarating sa akin, itong disqualified bidders ay sumali ulit sa bidding, and worse, they all qualified in the bidding. But the variance during the rebidding is only 1%. Sayang ‘yun eh. 24% sana ang na-save ng ating gobyerno. Ito po ay nagkakahalaga ng P1.6 billion,” he said during the DepEd’s budget briefing before the House Committee on Appropriations on Monday.

“Probably there is an irregularity in the procurement… at mayroong nangialam dito. ‘Yun ang paniniwala ko. ‘Yun lang ang aking kinukwestyon dito, the possible irregularity, the graft and corruption that is so patent in this bidding. Sa madaling salita, rigged ang bidding,” Bongalon stressed.

“Mayroong conspiracy na naganap. Imagine, nag-bidding na, and it’s all favorable to the government, tapos nagre-bidding, naging 1% ‘yung variance. Hindi po ba ‘yun malaking kwestyon? Tumaas ang presyo ng laptop, and it is because of conspiracy of the people behind this bidding of laptop,” the lawmaker alleged, as he called for an in-depth investigation into the matter by the proper committee after the budget hearings.

“As a general concept, during the re-bid they are able to correct their mistakes, and during the re-bid, sometimes prices might have changed. There are maybe other factors, if its imported, there are foreign exchange implications, or sometimes customs duties and all that. Minsan logistics cost,” Education Undersecretary Gerard Chan explained. He was not part of the DepEd Bids and Awards Committee during the bidding in question.

“It’s not really accurate to say na natalo. It’s just nagbago lang siya ng bid… Every bidding kasi ay iba-iba… Each bidding exercise is an independent activity po kasi,” Chan asserted.

Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro moved to subpoena all the bidding documents relevant to the DepEd Computerization Program in 2022 and 2023. It was approved by the panel. 

The DepEd committed to cooperate in furnishing the committee with the documents requested.

“If we are able to establish findings based on the documents to be submitted to us, then I recommend that we initiate a separate investigation on this,” Luistro said.

House Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice Chairperson Representative Stella Quimbo, meanwhile, instructed the Committee Secretary to prepare a report after DepEd complies with the document submissions. The report will be submitted to the Philippine Competition Commission for “possible inquiry into possible violation of the Philippine Competition Act, Section 14,” according to Quimbo.

“Ito namang Section 14 ay patungkol sa anti-competitive agreements at nandoon na mismo ‘yung sinasabi ni Cong. Janette na collusion, kasama na rito ang bid rigging,” she explained.