NETIZENS  have criticized the local government of San Pablo City, Laguna for reportedly distributing gaming laptops to teachers last August 10.

San Pablo Mayor Loreto S. Amante reportedly turned over 80 gaming laptops to Learning Resource Coordinators for elementary and secondary teachers and 23 more to Division Personnel.

Some netizens questioned the need for gaming laptops saying that more needy students would have benefited if the learning resource coordinators had been given cheaper computers.

“Justifiable naman yata ‘to kapag engineering or IT students ang gagamit kasi maganda ang specs ng TUF. But for simple online schooling this is overkill,” a Facebook user wrote.

“Good move for the LGU or DepEd pero gaming laptop? Seriously? Masyadong mahal ‘yan. May ibang laptop naman na maganda at sakto sa online classes, pero masyadong overkill naman yata sa budget. Samantalang mga mag-aaral baka ni smartphone wala magagamit, ‘di ba?Sayang sa budget. Commission of Audit is waving,” a netizen posted on Facebook.

“Ang taba ng utak ng purchasing department ng San Pablo City. Thank you namigay kayo ng laptop pero TUF laptop for online class? Nakakainis na ewan. 1 TUF gaming, 2 basic laptop na ‘yan pang online schooling,” commented another Facebook user.

Meanwhile, other netizens lauded the city government‘s efforts to provide high-end laptops for teachers and division heads.

“Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat especially po sa ating  butihing Mayor Amben Amante. Iingatan po namin ito dahil alam po namin na makakatulong po ito hindi lang sa amin lalo sa mga bata. Sana po ay masaya ang lahat dahil ginagawa naman po ito para sa bata,” a  supporter commented on Facebook.

“Ang unit na ito ay future proofing. It can serve up to five years or more without any problems. It’s an excellent purchase. Congrats,” added another Facebook user.

Photos from DepEd-San Pablo City showed the local government had distributed TUF Gaming laptops.

TUF Gaming is a sub-brand of computer manufacturer Asus.

Brand-new TUF Gaming laptops usually cost higher and are built for ‘serious gaming and real-world durability’.

According to its product guide for May to June 2020, the cheapest TUF Gaming laptop model is FX505DY-AL226T which has a standard retail price of P38,995.

Reports note that other TUF Gaming laptops could cost P79,995 as these have  good processors and video cards, as well as bigger storage space.

“This is part of the LGU’s support to the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan and could not have been expedited without the help of Sir Paul Michael Cuadra of Handang Isip, Handa Bukas,”  DepEd- San Pablo City posted on Facebook.

The POST tried to get Amante’s side but he declined an interview.