Marcos, First Lady lead laptop turnover in Pangasinan

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos led the ceremonial distribution of Apple MacBook Neo laptops to public school teachers in Dagupan City, Pangasinan, on Monday, 9 November, marking the start of a nationwide rollout of more than 231,000 laptops.

During the turnover at Dagupan City National High School, the First Lady joined teachers undergoing orientation on the use of the new devices, which are intended to help educators prepare lesson plans, access digital teaching tools and complete administrative work.

Under the Department of Education's (DepEd) computerization program, the government has awarded contracts for 231,725 laptops for teachers, comprising 169,008 Apple MacBook Neo units and 62,717 Windows-based laptops. Another 3,646 MacBook Neo units have been procured for administrative personnel.

Marcos said the government would continue providing teachers with resources to improve classroom instruction and reduce their administrative workload.

“Kaya naman araw-araw ay sinisiguro rin natin na natutugunan namin ang inyong mga pangangailangan. We will continue to provide whatever resources it is that you need. And we will make sure that every peso entrusted to the government for our children's education is spent wisely and properly. In return, all I ask of you is to do your best. Teach, to guide, to inspire our young people to become the best that they can be,” he said.

DepEd said it secured the MacBook Neo package at approximately P43,000 per unit, about P6,900 below the suggested retail price of P49,900.

The package includes productivity software, nationwide delivery, training and a five-year warranty.

The department estimates that competitive bidding generated at least P1.4 billion in savings compared with standard retail prices.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the government would prioritize teachers who had not previously received individually assigned government- or school-issued laptops.

“We want to ensure these laptops go to teachers who can maximize them most for teaching and learning, while keeping equity at the center by prioritizing teachers who have never received a government- or school-issued laptop. These guidelines set clear rules so schools can select recipients fairly and transparently,” Angara said.

Under the guidelines, qualified recipients must have active teaching assignments, DepEd email accounts with multifactor authentication enabled, and no serviceable government- or school-issued laptop received between 1 January 2023 and 6 November 2026.

Ownership of a personal laptop or access to shared equipment will not automatically disqualify a teacher.

Teachers actively involved in educational technology initiatives will receive first priority, followed by other eligible teachers without individually assigned laptops.

Previous recipients whose devices were damaged by calamities, declared unserviceable or lost to theft may also qualify.

When eligible teachers outnumber available units within a priority category, schools must conduct a witnessed drawing of lots.

DepEd said laptop allocations were determined proportionately using teacher populations across regions, divisions and schools.

School heads and property custodians must finalize recipient lists through the Teacher Assignment for Laptop Allocation (TALA) platform by 15 November.

The nationwide distribution is scheduled to continue through March 2027.