Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the Department of Education (DepEd) has put strict safeguards in place to ensure that over 231,000 newly procured teacher laptops are distributed fairly and protected against illegal transfers or misuse.
Speaking at a Malacañang press qbriefing on Tuesday, Angara highlighted the massive scope of the computerization rollout, which runs from November 2026 to March 2027.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and Angara on Monday officially launched at Dagupan City National High School the nationwide distribution of 172,654 MacBook Neo units, comprising 169,008 for teachers and 3,646 for administrative staff, along with 62,717 Windows-based laptops.
“Ito ang pinakamalawak at pinakamalalim na computerization program sa kasaysayan ng edukasyon sa Pilipinas sa ilalim ng administrasyong Marcos,” Angara said during the briefing.
To stop illegal sales, pawning, or unauthorized transfers, every laptop remains government property assigned through official accountability records. All units are enrolled in DepEd’s Mobile Device Management (MDM) system, allowing authorities to remotely lock or disable stolen or illegally sold devices, while violators face administrative and criminal charges.
“Hindi po puwedeng ibenta ang mga ito dahil nananatili itong government property. Bawat paaralan ay may nakatalagang property custodian na nagbabantay sa imbentaryo at maayos na paggamit ng mga laptop,” Angara explained.
To ensure fair selection, the Teacher Assignment for Laptop Allocation (TALA) guidelines distribute units based on school and teacher populations, prioritizing schools and educators who have never received a government laptop.
“Bawat paaralan ay may nakatalagang property custodian na nagbabantay sa imbentaryo at maayos na paggamit ng mga laptop.”
First priority goes to unserved teachers actively leading classroom tech integration, such as ICT coordinators, EdTech champions, and Khan Academy teachers, followed by other unserved teachers, and finally past recipients whose government laptops were lost to calamities or theft, or declared unserviceable.
A witnessed raffle, via the TALA system or manual draw, is used only as a last resort when qualified applicants in a priority tier outnumber available units. Teachers review proposed lists beforehand to fix errors, and owning a personal laptop or sharing a school unit does not disqualify anyone.
“Malinaw at patas ang ating sistema. Uunahin natin ang mga paaralan at guro na hindi pa nakakatanggap ng laptop mula sa gobyerno, lalo na ang mga nangunguna sa pagtuturo gamit ang teknolohiya,” Angara said.
Through open, competitive bidding, DepEd acquired each laptop unit for about PHP40,000 to PHP43,000, well below retail cost. Each package carries an estimated commercial value of over ₱70,000, complete with productivity software, nationwide school delivery, professional training and development, and an unprecedented five-year warranty.
“Napakasulit nito para sa gobyerno. Dahil sa bukas at patas na bidding, nakuha natin ang mga laptop nang mas mababa sa retail price pero kumpleto sa benepisyo,” Angara said.
While current stocks do not yet cover all public school teachers, DepEd is partnering with local governments and expanding connectivity programs to reach a 1:1 laptop-to-teacher ratio. Angara expressed hope that strong reception from educators will help secure a larger budget for the DepEd Computerization Program in 2027.
“Nakikita natin ang tuwa at malaking tulong nito sa ating mga guro at non-teaching personnel. Umaasa tayo na maisasaalang-alang ito sa susunod na budget allocation para sa 2027 upang mas marami pa tayong mabigyan at tuluyang mapunan ang pangangailangan sa mga pampublikong paaralan,” Angara added.
