Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Wednesday expressed bullishness that the delivery of free tablets will be faster as there is no protest to the winning bidder of the P1.3 billion educational project of the local government amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Pasig City is one of the local governments that stepped up and helped the Department of Education (DepEd) to push for the continuity of learning among students despite the hindrances caused by the dreaded disease.
"GOOD NEWS! Wala nang nag-protesta sa bidding natin para sa Tablets ng mga mag-aaral ng pampublikong paaralan ng Pasig! (Nobody protested in the bidding for the tablets of our public school students in Pasig)," the mayor shared on his official Facebook page.
This development, according to Sotto, means that the delivery of the free tablets in Pasig will be faster.
"I hope this is because they saw that we went through the process transparently and strictly in accordance with procurement laws," he said.
"Ibig sabihin, yung panalo ay yung kaya mag deliver ng tamang kalidad, maayos ang track record, sa pinaka mababang presyo (This means that the one who won is the one that has the capability to deliver the right quality , with good track record, for the lowest possible price)," the mayor added.
Sotto thanked the members of the Bids and Awards Committee and the Technical Working Group of the city.
"Hindi biro ang kontratang P1.3 billion. Ayon sa kanila, ito ang pinaka madugong pre-bid conference na nangyari sa amin mula last year (A P1.3-billion contract is no joke. According to them, this is the hardest pre-bid conference that happened since last year)," he noted.
In June, the mayor announced that the city government has set aside P1.2 billion from their budget to fund the learning devices for public school students, and some teachers with no laptops yet.
The city government, he said, assessed what types of learning devices they could provide based on the specification given by the DepEd.
For public school students who do not have Internet access at home, Sotto said they could go to designated points where the LGU has provided local networks where they will be able to download the files they need for their education.
"Sisiguraduhin po nating lahat ay may access. Sa mga walang access ng Internet sa bahay, puwede po silang pumunta sa ibang point kung saan may local network kung saan puwedeng i-download ‘yung mga files (We will ensure that everyone has access. To those without Internet access at their homes, they may go to other points with local network where they may download the files they need),” Sotto said during a Facebook live on June 17.