Department of Health

DOH paid almost P12M for video conference equipment and license, P300,000 for a laptop

Gelo Gonzales

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DOH paid almost P12M for video conference equipment and license, P300,000 for a laptop
Department of Health procurement documents do not state how many licenses or what video conference equipment is purchased

The Department of Health (DOH) finds itself under scrutiny again after the Commission of Audit on Thursday, August 12, reported “various deficiencies” amounting to P67.3 billion in the health department’s funds that led to “missed opportunities” in the country’s pandemic response. 

Of the P67.3 billion, the state auditors found that P3.97 billion was used in undocumented projects and “doubtful” transactions, while another P557.7 million was used in “excessive and unnecessary expenditures.”

Procurement documents on the DOH site show the department has been making purchases for information and communications technology (ICT) services and devices. Some of them appear to fit COA’s description of “excessive” expenditures. 

Among those is a contract for the procurement of “video conference equipment and video conference desktop with video conference license” amounting to P11.89 million, dated March 5, 2021.

Zoom, among the most popular video conferencing tools now, has an enterprise license that costs US$S12,000 per year (about P605,000) for 50 licenses. What the contract doesn’t state, however, is how many licenses were bought, what the equipment and video conference software were, and how many video conference desktop computers were acquired.

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Typically, for video conferencing apps, accounts on free licenses can still host meetings. But for more advanced features or unlimited meeting duration, at least the account hosting the meeting needs a paid license.

Bids and procurements by the government are made available online by respective departments to make the process transparent, but the lack of crucial details makes it difficult to see if the money is being spent judiciously. This is especially crucial when it comes to tech-related purchases, as prices can vary wildly among brands, and can vary according to very specific components. 

Another DOH purchase that is excessive is the purchase of laptops amounting to almost P300,000 each. 

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The DOH bought four units of a “Multimedia Production Laptop” worth P292,418 each for a total of P1,169,672. The contract, dated September 2020, can be found here.

Laptops can indeed reach such a price, such as the ROG Mothership at P400,000, and the Acer Predator 21X at P549,000. But these are the world’s most high-end laptops designed primarily for gaming use. The top-of-the-line Macbook Pro for instance, which consistently ranks as a top choice for video editing, costs P165,000. Equivalent laptops for the Windows platform are also available at a usually lower price. 

While the DOH document doesn’t make it clear what laptop was bought, P300,000 is a lot to spend for a laptop even during non-pandemic times. 

A year ago, PhilHealth was also blasted for tech-related anomalies in its purchases as well, among other controversies, when a Senate probe found an unspecified number of laptops worth more than P119 million, and 43 unspecified “ICT resources” worth P40 million.

The DOH’s video conferencing license and laptops mentioned here are just two of the many tech or ICT-related purchases the agency made over the past year.

If government agencies do not put specifics in the contract – crucial to the public’s understanding of the value being bought – there is wiggle room accommodating illicit transactions, and leeway for alibis if discovered later on.

The DOH’s procurement page can be found here. – Rappler.com

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Gelo Gonzales

Gelo Gonzales is Rappler’s technology editor. He covers consumer electronics, social media, emerging tech, and video games.