PS-DBM ‘missed out’ on supplier’s compliance detail in laptop price analysis, says official

A Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service (PS-DBM) officer on Thursday said that they "missed out" on getting the statement of compliance from one of the four suppliers that responded to the agency's price analysis for the procurement of the Department of Education (DepEd) laptops.

"With regards to the price analysis, we conducted a market survey, we received four quotations namely, the Huawei, [Columbia Technologies], Bowman and the VSTECS," Marwan Amil, provisional member of the Special Bids and Awards Committee of the PS-DBM, said.

"With regards to the VSTECS processor of 1.9 [gigahertz] with base speed of 2MB cache, based on the received quotation, we missed out on the statement of compliance," he admitted.

Amil made the admission after Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel questioned PS-DBM's price analysis, noting that the document indicated that the laptop "complied" with the standard even though it did not meet the required speed of 1.9 gigahertz (GHz).

"Bakit sa iba honest kayo, 1.6, pagdating dito tayo eh, 'comply,' sa missed out?" Pimentel said.

Pimentel pointed out that civil engineers like Amil are "particular to details."

"We cannot miss out. Did you really miss out?" he asked.

Amil said they really "didn't see it properly."

Prior to this, Pimentel asked Abram Abanil, another member of the Special bids and Awards Committee of the PS-DBM, about the price analysis document but he said he could not comment on the matter despite signing a conforme on it.

Abanil added that it was the PS-DBM's technical working group that prepared the price analysis and he just signed it.

"I trusted the technical working group made their due diligence in terms of conducting a price analysis. Nakita ko naman sa mga document na mataas na 'yung presyo," Abanil said.

"Ito lang pinakita sa akin na document when we were doing the review so that was also the basis of my signature," he added.

Pimentel then criticized the PS-DBM over their system.

"Theoretically, on paper may system sila, may review sila. So that 'yung mga missed out ay hindi na-miss out. Pero pagdating sa review, 'yung reviewer, may proxy pumirma ng form, 'yung na-miss out ay na-miss out pa rin," the minority leader said.

"Now we have this from the procuring entity or the requiring agency, nagconforme rin si Abanil, trusting that the entire system works but the system doesn't work. Sa preparation missed out, sa review, 'I do not review, I have a proxy so I can pass the ball 'pag may sumabog.' Yan ang problema," he said. — BM, GMA News