FIREWALL 7 Future-proof

The education system of the Philippines has always been in an unsteady and stumbling position for years as it stays vulnerable to malicious collusions in the government. Like a personal computer with four main functions, education has input as its teachers and resources; process as the pedagogy; storage as the acquired knowledge; and output as its learners. This system has continuously been maintained and driven by the budget allocated to the sector but has seemingly been only passed through ambitious places through the lens of cunning authorities.

The education sector has one of the enormous budgets in the government. However, Philippine education still receives one of the lowest budgets among the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations— a concern aggravated by the unrelenting corruption within the sector at various levels. One is the recent issue on the Department of Education's laptop procurement, where planned 68,500 units were reduced to 39,583, leaving almost 29,000 teachers empty-handed as they front DepEd's Computerization Program.

This questionable plunge in the number of procured laptops for teacher use in distance learning was said to be caused by the cost increase of the actual procured units, which are marked at ₱58,300— a lot higher than the initial estimated cost of ₱35,046. However, the price and features of the laptops seemed to have an apparent mismatch as they are built with outdated Intel Celeron processors, which are too slow for online learning. With this, instead of taking some of their burdens off, it may pile a new set of inefficiencies for teachers.

Following the statement of the Commission on Audit, the incident has agitated not just teachers but the Filipino people and experts in the field of technology, making DepEd a subject of ridicule, which is supposed to be the powerhouse of literacy and critical decision-making skills.

GizGuidePH, a technology-based website, blew up the internet as it compared DepEd's laptop costing ₱58,300 with entry-level specs, and the Macbook Air model, which costs ₱57,990 with numerous features and far better specs than the prior one.

Meanwhile, laptops geared with Intel Celeron processors only have a price range of ₱15,000 to ₱22,000.

DepEd responded that the outsourcing was conducted by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM), and it only accepted the purchased laptops.

The reasoning is odd, given the departments' standing and the people involved in the transactions. No responsible set of authorities could have just accepted something without inspecting and verifying it unless it wanted to add a different fuel to the embers of its inaccurate and meager modules and lessons distributed to students amidst the pandemic. There are two reasons for this: either the department is not doing its job, or an anomaly between them was happening in the guise of innovating the education sector.

This is not something unexpected for the PS-DBM as it just recently had an issue with the Department of Health during the height of the pandemic regarding the purchase of overpriced face masks and face shields for stocking operations through a transfer of appropriations which is prohibited by the constitutional provision.

Moreover, the Department of Education has its own share in the history of corruption. According to Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, the extreme shortage of textbooks in the Philippines's public schools resulting in one book for six pupils ratio, was caused by the bribes in regional education offices, which represented 20% of a contract's cost. This leads to corrupt officials' gluttony of about 20-65% of the total textbooks funds supposedly allotted for children.

Meanwhile, the issue is still subject to investigation and discussions as Atty. Michael Poa, the DepEd spokesperson, asserted that COA's observation is still inconclusive.

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the shadows of corruption have always been lurking in the establishments of government sectors. This may be one of its numerous manifestations. It is something that we cannot separate from any sovereign country. Despite this, something can be done to suppress the penetration of these shadows into the education barriers and prevent the embezzlement of public funds. It is transparency! Nothing is a more effective deterrent to corruption than exposure and public knowledge.

People in positions of authority are more susceptible to pressure to uphold rules and regulations the better educated the public is about finances and education programs in general. With this, local stakeholders such as parents, teachers, and students will have the voice to give appropriate and credible feedback on the quality of products and services offered to education.

Additionally, transparent criteria and procedures are required as part of an education system's procurement processes and open tendering systems. These will aid in ensuring that schools receive the most outstanding supplies and services, especially when using direct purchases. Regulations governing conflicts of interest and open access to bid documents can reduce corruption in public contracting.

These intervention will build a transparent wall protecting the education sector from deceitful hands, similar to a firewall protecting a computer system from dangerous malware that could put potential risks to the processes within. With the firewall of the education system built high enough and clear enough to reflect the sun's rays beaming on it, the shadows of corruption will no longer be able to intrude into its services to Filipino learners. Above all, most of them sit in a wheelchair.