DepEd sees warranty provision, legal remedies as ways to address laptop issues

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 10) — The Department of Education (DepEd) said it is looking at measures to address the concerns on laptops mentioned in the report by state auditors, including issues on the speed of the units distributed to teachers.

At a briefing on Tuesday, DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa said the department is looking to fix issues on laptop speed by using the warranty of the units.

"When we invoke the warranty provision with the supplier, dun na natin pag-uusapan kung may magagawa pa sila o papalitan na lang yung laptops nung supplier," he said.

[Translation: When we invoke the warranty provision with the supplier, that's when we would discuss if there is anything else that can be done or if the supplier will replace the laptops.]

As for legal remedies, the DepEd previously said it has submitted documents requested by the Commission on Audit to answer findings on the laptops.

"Sinisugurado namin sa inyo that the Department of Eduation is now coordinating closely with the Commission on Audit," Poa said at the briefing. "We are also working closely with the new administration of PS-DBM para po masagot natin yung AOM at mabigay natin yung documents na kinakailangan ng COA."

[Translation: We assure everyone that the Department of Education is now coordinating closely with the Commission on Audit. We are also working closely with the new administration of PS-DBM to answer the AOM so we can submit the documents COA needs.]

RELATED: PS-DBM to examine procurement of 'pricey, outdated' laptops for DepEd

The COA said teachers' laptops purchased through the Department of Budget and Management's Procurement Service (DBM-PS) were "pricey for entry-level type laptops."

It added that feedbacks gathered from the National Capital Region and the Cordillera Administrative Region said the laptops with old processors were slow.

COA further noted that the cost of the laptops "resulted in the significant decrease in the number of units provided to intended users" from the original 68,500 units to just 39,583.

"We are doing everything we can and we are cooperating with these two agencies," assured Poa.