Education Secretary Sonny Angara has warned public school teachers against selling the MacBook Neo laptops distributed by the Department of Education (DepEd), stressing that the devices remain government property.
During the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) press briefing on Tuesday, November 10, Angara said teachers who sell the government-issued laptops would be required to pay for their value.
“Government property po 'yon. Pag binenta po nila, edi babayaran ho nila 'yon,” Angara said.
Asked how the government would monitor possible unauthorized sales, the Education chief said every school has an assigned information technology (IT) officer responsible for safeguarding and overseeing the school's IT equipment.
“Well, each school has an IT officer, so siya yung parang custodian nung IT equipment sa school,” he explained.
The warning comes as DepEd began its nationwide distribution of more than 231,000 laptops for public school teachers on Monday, November 9, with the initial rollout held in Dagupan City, Pangasinan.
Of the total allocation, 169,008 are Apple MacBook Neo units, while 62,717 are Windows-based laptops. An additional 3,646 MacBook Neo devices were also procured for administrative personnel.
During the initial turnover, 209 MacBook Neo units were distributed to 10 public schools in Dagupan City. The rollout is part of the DepEd Computerization Program.
DepEd earlier announced that it secured 172,654 MacBook Neo units through competitive bidding at approximately ₱43,000 per unit, lower than the suggested retail price of ₱49,900. Each unit also comes with a five-year warranty, delivery services, productivity tools, and professional training for recipients.
The department said the laptop distribution aims to provide teachers with modern technological tools to help them prepare lesson plans, accomplish school reports, access digital learning resources, and improve classroom instruction.
