DepEd slow to spend on tech needs, fast with confidential funds, lawmakers say

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education came under fire from House lawmakers on Monday, September 2, for its failure to promptly deliver any of the laptops for school personnel and smart TVs it received funding for in 2022 and 2023 under then-Education Secretary Sara Duterte. 

During the House appropriations committee’s review of DepEd’s proposed P748-billion budget for 2025, lawmakers criticized the significant underutilization of funds for teaching and learning equipment in 2023. This was in contrast to its swift expenditure of confidential and intelligence funds.

Citing audit documents, Rep. Jinky Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District) said DepEd had accomplished "zero percent" of its target delivery of the following equipment budgeted for 2023, as of Dec. 31, 2023:

Meanwhile, as of the same date, DepEd also failed to distribute the following equipment that it funded using the continuing appropriations from its 2022 budget:

"I wish to express my frustration in the proper bidding, procurement and delay of all these ICT equipment. These are all critically needed in public schools," Luistro said in a mix of English and Filipino. 

"Where are these equipment?" the lawmaker asked.

Ferdinand Pitagan, DepEd's director for information and communication technology, said that all laptops for teachers and non-teaching personnel funded by the 2022 appropriations have been delivered. However, at least 8% of the smart TVs and e-learning carts, which DepEd describes as "rolling libraries with laptops," have yet to be delivered. 

Meanwhile, just about 3% of the e-learning carts and smart TVs funded in the 2023 budget have been distributed to schools. 

The lawmaker reprimanded DepEd for its slow delivery of much-needed classroom technology especially as the specifications needed for teaching and learning tools change quickly. 

One of the items on DepEd's "wishlist" for 2025 is a P12.6 billion budget for its computerization program.

As of 2023, Pitagan said that DepEd only has one computer for every 30 teachers nationwide. The student-to-computer ratio is at 1:9.

"That is almost saying impossible to facilitate an e-learning system," Luistro said.

However, despite the urgent