A mayor from the Philippines has upgraded the IT equipment of the municipal administration and has paid way too much for it. His successor has now made the bad deal public.
What did the mayor buy? Outdated IT systems are not only present in German authorities but also in a municipal administration in the Philippines. The former mayor Darwin Bajada wanted to modernize his administration and purchased 16 new PCs and a server for the administration.
That sounds progressive only at first glance – it becomes absurd when considering the price. He spent 10 million Philippine pesos for the 16 computers and the server – the equivalent of about 150,000 euros. According to the website early.app, the average income in the country is about 353,000 Philippine pesos, which is about 5,000 euros.
The former mayor has therefore invested the annual salaries of 30 employees into the new IT equipment. This is completely exaggerated – especially considering the hardware installed.
3-year-old hardware
What was installed? The computers, which according to a packing list (via PCGamer) were purchased by the former mayor in 2024, have Intel processors of the 11th generation. This is the generation that was current in 2021. The remaining hardware likely corresponds to this standard as well.
In addition to the computers, there were also new keyboards, mice, and monitors for the employees. According to research by PCGamer, these devices have a total value of about 10,300 euros for all workplaces combined.
The server is at least almost state-of-the-art. According to the new mayor, Sally Lopez, it consists of an Intel i9 14th generation CPU, 32 GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD, and a 10 TB HDD. However, this does not justify the high price either.
In summary, it is clear: The hardware is not worth the price by any means, especially for Philippine conditions.
What does the new mayor say about the purchase? Modernizing the municipal administration is a commendable endeavor for the predecessor. But if the technology costs about as much as employing all employees for two years, then it smells like trouble.
Accordingly, the new mayor Sally Lopez expresses her dismay over her predecessor’s purchase on Facebook: “The price is too high, and it hasn’t even been tested whether it works or not, but the former mayor Bajada has already paid for it.”
The fact that the expensive IT infrastructure was paid for in advance without being tested and has cost the municipal administration a lot of money also annoys many users on Facebook. Citizens react in disbelief – some joke about it, while others are angry that so much money was wasted.
Many people wish for a modern workplace, but if it costs about two annual salaries, the joy fades quickly. Overpriced hardware purchases are not solely a political problem – gamers sometimes also pay heavily: “You weren’t cheated, you just bought garbage” – Gamer invests 1,000 euros in a new gaming PC because he is too impatient
