PhilHealth exec says PHP 115-M budget covers over 1,000 desktops

Embattled Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) denied allegations that the state-run firm had set overpriced items, saying the PHP 115 million budget was for over 1,000 desktops.

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PhilHealth exec defends budget for desktops

PhilHealth senior vice president and chief information officer Jovita Aragona stressed in her presentation before the Senate that the PHP 115 million budget was allotted for 1,341 regular desktops priced at PHP 86,000 apiece.

She further explained that another PHP 4.1 million had been earmarked for 6 laptops with high-end specifications at PHP 56,000 each, 21 laptops with regular specs at PHP 50,562 each, and 53 laptops with small form factor specs at PHP 51,200 each.

PhilHealth's PC budget

Other anomalous items in PhilHealth's IT budget include PHP 21 million for Adobe Master Collection software, compared to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)-approved budget of PHP 168,000; PHP 40 million for application servers and licenses versus DICT-approved PHP 25 million; PHP 5 million for structured cabling against the DICT-approved cost of only PHP 500,000, among others.

The PhilHealth executive, however, argued that the budget for the Adobe Master Collection was only targeted at PHP 504,000, not PHP 21 million.

PhilHealth has been on the hot seat over claims of overpriced IT requirements. 

Source: ABS-CBN