Press Release
January 23, 2007

LACSON TO DEPED: PUNISH PUBLISHERS,
SUPPLIERS OF DEFECTIVE BOOKS

Sen. Panfilo Lacson urged the Department of Education (DepEd) and other concerned agencies Tuesday to institute measures punishing publishers and suppliers of defective and error-laden school textbooks.

After presiding over the first hearing looking into the textbook scam, Lacson also batted for diligence by those tasked to review books for errors that students may accept as fact.

We hope the concerned agencies become diligent enough to really correct errors, or at least impose sanctions on suppliers and publishers that commit errors, Lacson said.

He added Congress should exercise its oversight functions and prod agencies to set up implementing rules and regulations and make sure they are followed.

Lacson also said Congress should take action to correct the discrimination against Filipino suppliers or publishers, who do not get paid until after the books are delivered. In contrast, he said foreign publishers and entities, such as those in the World Bank-funded textbook deal involving the Vibal group of companies, get paid immediately.

On the other hand, Lacson reiterated that it is important to avoid a monopoly to prevent the churning out of substandard textbooks. He noted that at least 60,000 copies of textbooks printed by a publisher affiliated with Vibal had inverted pages in the middle portion.

Also, he said the deal produced textbooks meant for teachers but were marked as for students. We should avoid a monopoly to ensure the quality of textbooks distributed. If there is no competition, you have an attitude of I dont care because Im going to win again so why should I correct the errors, he said.

For its part, the DepEd promised Lacson it will review the textbooks in the controversial deal for errors, and review the process for evaluating textbook contents.

We are certainly going to review the textbooks for factual errors, and review the content evaluation process, DepEd undersecretary Ramon Bacani said during the hearing.

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