Another day, another scandal
26 August 2022
This week we were treated to another Senate hearing where lawmakers grilled executive officials and decision makers over the questionable purchase of laptop computers by the Department of Education.
Some P2.4 billion was at stake.
Each computer was bought for P58,300 when the approved budget for the contract was only P35,046.50. The difference is a staggering P23,253.50 per unit. Per unit! And the DepEd bought 39,583 units of this model.
Was the hefty mark-up justified? Obviously not. The Intel Celerons procured by the DepEd are less powerful than the latest MacBook Air – M1, which starts at P57,990.
Education Undersecretary Alain Pascua, however, thinks he has a good-enough explanation. He said that when he saw that the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management – an all-too-familiar office to those of us following where our taxes go – increased the per-unit price of the computers, he decided to procure fewer of them. Brilliant? He did not agree to the price set by the PS-DBM, he insisted.
He then pointed to ICT Director Abram Abanil, who actually signed the concurrence to action slip. Abanil insisted he conferred with Pascua, his boss, before he signed.
Not surprisingly, the senators present during the hearing became angrier and more exasperated as the questioning went on.
A familiar name from the PS-DBM, Christopher Lao, surfaced, too, saying that the much-higher figures were the prevailing prices when they conducted their market survey in March 2020, a difficult time when stocks were running out. He also tried to wiggle his way out of the grilling by saying that he was on his way out of the agency when these deals were being made.
The hearings on the DepEd laptops either tell us several things or lead us to ask several questions.
First, where is command responsibility? There appears to be a consistent effort to shield education higher-ups – specifically former Education Secretary Leonor Briones – from the fallout of this mess. But even if we assume they are not in on the anomalous deal, is this not Exhibit A of their staggering incompetence in overseeing the functions of their department, and in being in the loop with all decisions made on behalf of the people whose money they so wantonly spend?
Second, yes, it is Pharmally all over again. It is Lao all over again. Did we not hear, just last year, the fantastic testimonies given by those involved in the sordid mess over the previous administration’s pandemic response? Were we not blown away by how stupid they thought the public was? Now it’s another department (although the same PS-DBM), another set of items procured, but the ignominy – especially at a time when the Philippines is deemed learning poor and when our teachers are giving so much of themselves – is the same.
Third, for how long can we sustain this indignation? Today, tomorrow, next week, the senators sitting as members of the Blue Ribbon Committee might be genuinely angry, assuming they are not putting on a show. But when the report is finalized, who exactly would they recommend to be indicted? How may would vote to endorse the report and how many would pragmatically weigh this against their own political interests? And if cases are indeed filed before the proper venue, how long would it take before these are resolved? Would the public, weary with making both ends meet, have the stamina to see it through its logical conclusion?
Fourth, we have become desensitized to wrongdoing. This is not the first time this has happened, and there will be more to come. What, then? Will the normalcy wear us down? Will the lack of action from those who should safeguard how taxpayers’ money is used for the public good discourage, frustrate, and disgust us? Will they even, at the very least, make a show of expressing anger over this?
Heartbreakingly, it is quite easy to predict the outcome. Most people will just move on to the next scandal to get worked up about – until all wrongdoing becomes so common, until they stop believing anything could ever change.
It is a long and dreary road ahead.
