To ensure that its officials, teaching, and non-teaching personnel uphold the values of integrity, transparency, and accountability, the Department of Education (DepEd) has been taking several measures to strengthen its anti-corruption drive.
In a statement issued on Monday, Feb. 20, DepEd, under the leadership of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, said that it has “immediately acted” on several legal cases filed against alleged erring public officials, personnel, and service providers in the past months.
In the “spirit of transparency,” DepEd gave legal updates on various issues concerning the agency.
Regarding the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) report on the procurement of “overpriced laptops,” DepEd said that the filing of cases against past and present officials of the DepEd, as recommended by the BRC, will be “referred to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) for evaluation and appropriate action.”
DepEd also expressed readiness to receive the official BRC report from the Senate.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/19/deped-to-strengthen-internal-controls-procurement-process-after-senate-findings-on-overpriced-laptops/
“In addition, there is a pending administrative case against one DepEd employee involved in the procurement,” it added.
On DepEd laptops being sold in a surplus store in Cebu, the department said that not amongst those procured through the PS-DBM “were part” of the DepEd Computerization Program (DCP).
Currently, DepEd said that it is coordinating with relevant law enforcement agencies to “apprehend the perpetrators.”
On government “scammers,” DepEd lauded the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the arrest of Diokno Eje, a.k.a Vaughn Vincent, who is the subject of numerous complaints about an alleged “appointment scam” wherein several personalities were offered government posts in exchange for a huge sum of money.
DepEd said that it is also investigating a similar case of fraudulent dealings of its employee named “Maricon.”
“Administrative proceedings for various charges have been instituted and are already underway,” DepEd said.
Regarding the photos circulating online on the alleged “overpriced” camera, DepEd said that it has traced the now-deleted post of photojournalist Jhun Dantes, and shared by the account of a certain Renato Reyes, of a Canon 1500D camera with a DepEd sticker attached indicating an acquisition cost of P155,929, as a property of the Schools Division Office (SDO) of Imus City.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/02/01/after-laptops-govt-urged-to-investigate-depeds-overpriced-cameras/
“The camera was given by the Local Government Unit to the SDO,” DepEd said. “DepEd did not have any participation or involvement in the procurement process of the subject cameras,” it added.
DepEd also noted that it had found another case of the failure on the part of a service provider to comply with its contract — since 2021.
“We are currently exploring legal remedies and working on this issue,” DepEd said.
Meanwhile, DepEd noted that it has deliberately provided general statements on these updates so as not to “preempt or hamper ongoing investigations.”