The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Wednesday defended its P170.2-million acquisition of gadgets, which the Commission on Audit (COA) recently flagged.
DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan II said there was “no irregularity” in the procurement of tablets and laptops, justifying that the supplier Lex-Mar General Merchandise and Contractor was “found be a technically, legally, and financially capable supplier.”
Honasan said Lex-Mar is both a general construction firm and a wholesaler of office supplies and equipment, including computer units and tablets.
Likewise, he claimed that Lex-Mar’s financial statements have also met the requirements for the procurement, adding that the supplier provided the department completed contracts with the local government of Quezon City.
Honasan also underscored the importance of the project, which was implemented under its Digital Education Program (DEP). He said the gadgets “were intended to assist its partner local government units facilitate ICT-enabled education, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“Through these initiatives, we aim to be more responsive to the needs of our students under the online and blended learning modalities as face-to-face classes are currently suspended during this public health emergency,” he said.
He explained that the first pilot project is for tablets for the DICT’s Cybersafe Learning for Education spearheaded by the ICT Literacy and Competency Development Bureau (ILCDB) and intended to benefit the students from the University of Makati.
Meanwhile, the second project pertains to the tablets procured for the Cybersafe Learning for Education of the Cybersecurity Bureau (CSB), with ILCDB’s support, in coordination with the City Governments of San Juan and Makati.
Lastly, the third project was for the Digital Learners and Teachers, a project of the ILCDB that benefited learners and teachers from Pinaglabanan Elementary School in San Juan City.
“Overall, the projects involved aim to support the primary objective of the government to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus as more and more agencies and LGUs rely on the technical expertise and functions of the DICT to address the greater need for digitization, interconnectivity, and ensuring cyber-security awareness of the public, during this new normal,” Honasan said.
The cities, he said, we “pilot sites” that were chosen based on their readiness for implementation and capacity to “generate rich data” for policy formulation.
Honasan also said “this is not the first time that the highest executive arm of the government that manages national ICT development has provided ICT equipment to a government partner, client or beneficiary.”
He cited a partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) for the iSchool Project in 2010, an exercise that aimed to provide ICT equipment to qualified schools in the Philippines.
“It is with more reason that during this time of pandemic when going digital spells individual resiliency or vulnerability that the government should spare no effort in making sure that ICT resources and services are provided to government partners, clients, and beneficiaries,” Honasan said.