3,304 Samsung tablets donated by UN still undistributed by DICT

GOVERNMENT auditors have aired concern over delays in the Department of Information and Communication Technology’s (DICT) distribution of 4,000 ICT equipment donated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) last year.

As of yearend 2022, the Commission on Audit said only 696 of the electronic gadgets have been given out, leaving 3,304 or 83 percent still in DICT’s hands.

Each kit delivered by the UNDP contains a Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite with case and keyboards. In all, the gadgets had a total value of P60.39 million.

The donation was part of the UN’s assistance to the country’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program and was intended to fast-track the implementation of the Vaccine Information Management System (VIMS).

With the help of the gadgets, local governments and health authorities had hoped to simplify immunization registration, supply chain management of vaccines, monitoring of vaccine effectiveness, and real-time upload of vaccine uptake and coverage by geography and population age groups.

However, auditors found that only 17 percent of the 4,000 tablets have been distributed even as the DICT has yet to formulate a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the regional health unit (RHU)-LGU beneficiaries.

There were also no instructions given to field operating officers on issues of custody, monitoring, selection, and qualification of beneficiaries, reporting and documentary requirements, borrowing arrangements, and other terms and conditions.

The instructions were supposed to be provided by the VIMS Project Management Officer from the DICT Central Office.

For the remaining 3,304 gadgets, the DICT has yet to start identifying the beneficiaries although each region has been assigned a specific share, with Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) supposed to receive the biggest number at 505 followed by Region 5 (Bicol Region) with 478.

“The DICT reasoned that one of the causes of the delayed distribution is the lack of legal documents transferring ownership of the tablets to the DICT. Hence, the DICT cannot transfer what it does not own,” the audit team said.

Auditors pointed out that the gadgets were delivered in early 2022 but have remained unused while in storage instead of