DBM: COA did not recommend blacklisting suppliers of pricey DepEd laptops

Termination and blacklisting of the supplier of laptops for public school teachers for online instruction in the time of the pandemic was not recommended by the Commission on Audit (COA).

What COA recommended for that specific item was the creation of an investigation committee, which was adopted by previous management and submitted to COA,

the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) said.

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DBM clarified the matter after COA issued an audit observation memorandum.

The agency contended that this was reflected as a “complied” status in the state auditor’s annual report.

Earlier, PS-DBM received backlash over procurement of 39,583 pricey laptops amounting to P2.4 billion supposedly to be used by public school teachers.

The recommendation to immediately conduct contract termination and blacklisting proceedings was for a different laptop procurement involving a different supplier, not the DepEd contract,

PS-DBM pointed out.

The agency also said it endorsed the DepEd laptop procurement to the National Bureau of Investigation for an independent probe and shows full cooperation with them.

The NBI investigation is still in progress.