Tolentino: Blue Ribbon's findings on DepEd laptops mess "airtight"

In an interview over radio station DWIZ Saturday, the Chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Senator Francis Tolentino, intimated that he believes that the five hearings conducted in connection with the questionable procurement of laptops for the Department of Education (DepEd) through the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) in 2021 have already established an "airtight" case as to its findings.

In the fifth and final hearing last Thursday, October 20, where resource persons from the Commission on Audit (COA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) testified, Tolentino had this to say:

"Mukha namang airtight itong ebidensyang hawak hawak natin kasi nag present... [n]ung isang araw, e COA na, Commission on Audit. Iyon namang mga sa text messages, National Bureau of Investigation. So papano mo na ito babaliktarin? Diba factual na yon, established na yon eh."

Although the hearings were already concluded last Thursday, the Blue Ribbon Committee will still consider memoranda that might be submitted by those covered in the investigation, as these may shed more light on the various issues touched upon by the committee proceedings before it releases its final report in November: "Halos kumpleto na yung isusulat bagamat hihintayin namin yung mga memorandum na isusubmit ng iba na gusto mag-submit para magbigay sila nang karagdagang kapaliwanagan," according to the senator.