A group on Sunday, June 18, urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to “stop the negligence” when it comes to providing the needs of teachers. Members of ACT Philippines during a protest rally.  (NOEL PABALATE / MANILA BULLETIN)

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines issued the statement following the delayed distribution of P53 million worth of gadgets to Cavite teachers as reported by the Commission on Audit (COA). ACT said that these “lapses played a major reason why the state cannot break free from learning crisis.” “Hindi ito ang unang beses na mayroong pagkukulang ang DepEd upang tugunan ang pangangailangan ng mga kaguruan sa mga kagamitan (This is not the first time that DepEd has failed in meeting the needs of teachers when it comes to equipment),” ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua said. Quetua alleged that there were also “negligence and corruptions issues” regarding DepEd laptops. “Mahigit isang buwan pa lang, may balita nanaman patungkol sa isa pang kapabayaan (Just over a month later, there is news about another negligence),” he added. Citing COA’s 2022 annual audit report, ACT noted that the cause of late deliveries of laptops to teachers in Cavite was the “significant delay in the submission of purchase requests and other procurement processes” by the DepEd Division Office. “Dahil sa delay na ito, hindi napakikinabangan agad ng mga kaguruan ang mga supply at equipment na nakatutulong sana para sa kanila (Because of this delay, the teachers are not able to benefit immediately from the supplies and equipment that would have been helpful for them),” Quetua said. He added that delay defeated the purpose of distributing the laptops because these “can only be used now when the school year is about to end.” As per COA, 350 laptops and 4,148 tablets were only used by teachers and other intended recipients 12 to 19 months from the target completion of procurement resulting in not achieving its maximum benefits. Quetua noted that the delay of more than one year was quite regrettable especially when the teachers could have been using these gadgets during that time.
Given this, ACT once again urged DepEd and the government to ensure that the country can overcome the learning crisis by making sure that “teachers get what they need” --- including DepEd's assurance that the supplies and equipment they need will arrive on time. Quetua concluded.