THE DEPARTMENT of Education has teamed up with Open Ownership to strengthen transparency, integrity, and risk detection in public procurement, particularly in the education sector where government spending is the largest and most geographically dispersed.

On Monday, DepEd and Open Ownership signed a Memorandum of Agreement, positioning DepEd to pilot the use of beneficial ownership data in procurement.

According to DepEd, beneficial ownership refers to identifying the natural persons who ultimately own, control, or benefit from companies participating in government contracts—beyond the names of incorporators or signatories on paper.

“Gusto naming malaman kung sino talaga ang nasa likod ng mga kumpanyang ka-transaksiyon ng gobyerno. Kapag malinaw iyon, mas madaling maiwasan ang problema at mas mabilis na maihatid ang silid-aralan, libro, at tulong na kailangan ng mga bata. Mas siguradong sa paaralan napupunta ang pera, hindi sa bulsa ng iilan,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said.

With a record budget this 2026, DepEd is the country’s largest procuring entity, with procurement activities that directly affect classrooms, textbooks, school buildings, and learner support nationwide.

Under the agreement, DepEd and Open Ownership will conduct a retrospective analysis of selected procurement contracts to examine how beneficial ownership information can help flag potential conflicts of interest, undisclosed related parties, bid rotation, and market concentration. The pilot will also test which data points are most useful, at what stages of procurement they matter most, and how their impact can be measured, DepEd said.