(Business World) A FORMER Education assistant secretary has admitted to committing a mistake by signing as a witness to a hastily prepared agreement with a government procurement agency for the purchase of what turned out to be allegedly overpriced laptops.
Senator Francis N. Tolentino, chair of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, pointed out at a hearing on Tuesday that the memorandum of agreement between the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Procurement Service under the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) included a law relating to food and drugs.
“What I see here is that the lawyers seemed to be in a hurry and adopted a template contract, forgetting to remove the FDA (Food and Drug Administration),” Mr. Tolentino said. “It’s good thing that the contract did not mention face masks since we are talking about laptops.”
Former Assistant Secretary Salvador C. Malana III, in response, said:
“I would admit that there were mistakes, not on the part of the legal department, but the lawyers involved in crafting the document. But I do take responsibility for having signed as a witness.”.. Read More
