Senate Will Step In to Probe Overpriced Cameras if DepEd Doesn’t
Senator Koko Pimentel said that the Senate will conduct an investigation against the alleged overpriced cameras of the Department of Education (DepEd).
In an interview, the Senate Minority Leader stated that if the DepEd does not move up its probe, the Senate will step in. According to the claim, the pricey camera was purchased during the tenure of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Pimentel stated in the statement that if the DepEd, led by Vice President Sara Duterte, the former President’s daughter, does not act, the Senate will undertake its own probe. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee earlier investigated the pricey laptop purchased by the Duterte government through the Department of Budget and Management’s Procurement Services (DBM).
Current and former PS-DBM personnel are mainly responsible for the multi-million dollar anomaly. It’s worth investigating, and if DepEd doesn’t act on it, Blue Ribbon can, according to Pimentel.
Pimentel further stated that the blue ribbon committee already has “expertise” in probing overpricing because it recently completed an investigation into the agency’s obsolete and expensive laptops purchased during the previous administration, according to the interview.
“This time palitan lang ‘yung laptop ng camera,” he said.
He stated that the Blue Ribbon team undertook an investigation because the leadership of DepEd, which is now an entity under the Executive branch of government, was doing nothing. He will, however, allow the department the opportunity to act on those reports.
“Intayin muna natin. Let’s give the Department of Education the chance to act on those reports and maybe the [Commission on Audit.] After the passage of a sufficient period of time, makita natin na walang aksyon, tsaka po pwede na tawagin natin na umaksyon ang Senate Blue Ribbon,” he said,
DepEd official Michael Poa earlier stated that the agency will look into the pricey camera. The investigation began after a photojournalist shared a photo of a Canon 1500D camera with a P155,929 DepEd sticker that included the camera’s serial number, acquisition date, and accountable officer.
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