THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers held a protest outside the Department of Budget and Management building to demand accountability for the purchase of overpriced and outdated laptops for teachers employed by the Department of Education.

“The PS-DBM should end its silence regarding the procurement of overpriced and outdated DepEd laptops. They should explain how laptops with Celeron processors could cost the government P58,000 each. We cannot think of any acceptable and plausible justification for this anomalous deal,” Ruby Anna Bernardo, the group’s spokesperson, said.

“We teachers are here to show our utter disgust with the stinking contract made under our names while we struggle everyday to pay for our loan-acquired laptops or struggle to perform our duties using outdated ones that DepEd procured through the PS-DBM. Itong DBM, notorious ito sa pagiging kuripot sa usapin ng sweldo at benepisyo ng mga guro, pero mukhang galante yata sila kapag may kickback na sa usapan,” she added.

ACT also criticized former Education Secretary Leonor Briones’ reaction and the education agency’s latest pronouncements regarding the issue.

“Former DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones’ quick refusal to take responsibility on the issue, and worse, threatening to take legal action against anyone who might implicate her to the scandal shows how self-centered our officials can be in dealing with the concern. We have heard of the same stance from the DepEd since the start, deflecting the heat and simply passing the buck to PS-DBM. They are more hell-bent in saving their own hides than in getting to the heart of the matter and ensuring that those responsible be held liable. For once, we call on them to get past themselves and think of our teachers and learners who suffered while funds were being misused,” Bernardo said.

The group also slammed DepEd’s latest statement that they will correct the situation by doing a “quick fix” on slow-performing laptops or demand for replacements through the warranty provision is also unsatisfactory.

“The problem is not only that the laptops are outdated but the government paid P58,000 each for such pathetic devices. Why is that so? How did that happen? That is what we want to know and we want those liable to account,” Bernardo said.

“It is also important to note that while 39,000 or so teachers may have received slow-performing laptops, there are hundreds of thousand teachers more who did not get any. They take on loans just so that they can perform their duties wherein laptops are integral, distance learning or not. The more important question is: what is the government’s plan in providing all our teachers with this essential tool for teaching?” she asked.