The Office of the Ombudsman has positioned 12 Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) officers below six-month preventive suspension with out pay over the acquisition of alleged overpriced laptops for academics in the course of the Duterte administration.
In an 11-page decision, Ombudsman Samuel Martires stated his workplace discovered ample grounds to preventively droop for grave misconduct, critical dishonesty, and gross neglect of obligation the next respondents “considering that there is strong evidence showing their guilt”:
- DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla
- former DepEd undersecretary Alain del Pascua
- former Department of Budget and Management undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao
- DepEd Assistant Secretary for Administration and Procurement, Salvador Malana III
- Director Abram Abanil of the Information and Communications Technology Services, DepEd/Designated Ad Hoc Member, Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC-1) for the “Laptop for Teachers” Project
- Director Jasonmar Uayan, Officer-in-Charge, Executive Director, Procurement Service-DBM
- Ulysees Mora Procurement Management Officer, PS-DBM and Designated Chairperson, SBAC-1
- Marwin Amil, Procurement Management Officer I, PS-DBM and Designated Provisional Member, SBAC-1;
- Alec Ladanga, Executive Assistant IV, Office of Undersecretary Sevilla, DepEd
- Marcelo Bragado, Director IV, Procurement Management Service, DepEd
- Selwyn Briones, Supervising Administrative Officer, DepEd, and
- Paul Armand Estrada, Procurement Management Officer V, PS-DBM and Designated Regular Member, SBAC-1
The anti-graft physique stated such suspension is in accordance with Section 27 of the Ombudsman regulation.
“This Order is immediately executory,” the Ombudsman stated.
“Notwithstanding any motion, appeal, or petition that may be filed by respondents seeking relief from this Order, unless otherwise ordered by this Office or any court of competent jurisdiction, the implementation of this Order should not be interrupted within the period prescribed,” it added.
The Ombudsman’s resolution stemmed from the grievance filed by the Senate blue ribbon committee ensuing from its inquiry on the controversy.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
