Ombudsman orders suspension of DepEd, DBM execs for 6 mos.
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered a six-month preventive suspension of 12 current and ex-officials of the Department of Education and the Procurement Service office of the Department of Budget and Management.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires, in a resolution, ordered the suspension of DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla, former undersecretary Alain Del Pascua, former PS-DBM executive director Lloyd Christoper Lao, and other officials for a period not exceeding six months or until the cases were terminated.
Martires cited Republic Act No. 6770 or the Ombudsman Act that says a preventive suspension may be imposed on a respondent if the evidence of guilt is strong.
“The office finds sufficient grounds to preventively suspend the abovenamed respondents considering there is strong evidence showing their guilt,” the resolution read.
The suspension order also included Salvador Malana III, Abram Abanil,
Jasonmer Uayan, Ulysses Mora, Marwan Amil, Alec Ladanga, Marcelo Bragado, Selwyn Briones, and Paul Armand Estrada, who no longer work at DepEd.
The Senate Blue Ribbon committee, chaired by Senator Francis Tolentino, filed the administrative charges of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for the procurement of supposed overpriced and outdated laptops amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
The procurement process for the laptop computers was conducted by the PS-DBM upon the request and authority of the DepEd.
Martires cited a Commission on Audit report on the “pricey” entry-level, low-end laptops, saying the DepEd accepted the P58,300 amount for each laptop even if the estimated cost based on the annual procurement plan was P35,046.50 only.
The Ombudsman said Dell laptops with better specifications would only cost P22,490 to 25,000.
“Over 28,000 teachers were deprived of laptops to use during the COVID-19 pandemic as fewer units were purchased by the agency,” it added.